The Dragon
by scorpio lover15
Summary: Two years after seeing Sasuke again Sakura is stronger than ever, learned about her family, still misses Sasuke, and holds a powerful secret.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, I'm new here, so don't flame me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. That is Masashi Kishimoto's masterpiece.

Note: This is set two years after they saw Sasuke again. Sakura has remembered her past, and she also learned that she could perform all of the elements. She also has a powerful secret.

The Dragon

Konoha was in the middle of a battle. The Akatsuki had finally attacked. There were jounins and chunnins of the like all over the place. The Rookie Nine were part of this too. All of them were battling in the same place. All but one. They call her the "dragon" of Konoha.

If you picked your way through all the chaos and rubble to the opposite side of where the rookies were fighting, you could hear a very angry pink haired kunoichi fighting with her "ex" best friend. One had on a black tank top with the Haruno symbol on the back, and a mesh shirt underneath. Her tight black pants had a red dragon running down one leg, and her boots were of a maroon color. She had a powerful chakra punch, as was the cause of her long gloves. Her short pink hair was in a cool choppy style, with bangs hanging over her eyes. There was a tatoo that ran up her right arm in the shape of a dragon. This tatoo, when activated by chakra and spread all across the body, is very powerful. Her hypnotic green eyes, at this moment, were sparking with fierceness, anger, and determination.

The other girl, or woman, had on the traditional Akatsuki cloak. Black with red clouds. Her navy blue hair was in a short bob with a white lily flower stuck in it. She was pale skinned and had three rings in her ears, and one in her nose. Her dark green eyes were staring at her opponent with amusement, and a hint of wariness. Her name was Konan

"Heh, nice to see you again... my old _friend_," she said. Sakura glared,and spat, " I am no longer your friend Konan, you ruined that when you betrayed me! When you betrayed the Haruno's and tried to kill my sister!" "Hmph, your family was always in my way of getting what I wanted. To be the head of the Elemental village. I decided that the best way to eliminate my competition was to befriend one of the Haruno's. What a chance I had when little naive Sakura, the only weak link of the clan, came up to me and said hi! Unfortunately, I didn't succeed back then,so I got myself stronger by joining the Akatsuki, and here I am going to finally eliminate you, your family, and your little Konoha friends!"

Sakura was shaking by this point. "If you think I'm going to allow that to happen, then you are dead wrong. I will kill you, like I should have done back then, before you can lay a hand on anyone but me!" Konan smirked, "Is that so?", and disappeared. _Uh Oh,_ Sakura thought. She readied herself for any attack, and sure enough dozens of kunai came out at her from behind. She dodged, and hit everyone of them back to where they came from with a single swipe of her hand. "Good dodge," Konan said "but see if you can dodge this." She started running at a very fast pace,that she was almost a blur, with a bunch of paper bombs in her hand. Sakura cocked her head, her hand was already glowing with chakra. Once she felt Konan was close enough she brought her chakra activated fist down on the ground. KRACK! The ground split in two sending Konan and her bombs flying. There was an explosion where they hit the ground. Sakura didn't stop there. She performed a water jutsu and filled the cavern she just created with water. She then poofed about five feet behind Konan, who was still disoriented from the flying and the bombs, and created another jutsu. This time air. She brought her fingers up to her mouth and blew as hard as she could to send a hurricane like current Konan's way. This succeeded in making her fly into the water filled cavern. With her hair all windblown Sakura walked to the edge of the cavern and looked down. Konan was spluttering, and trying to stay afloat.

"Drat you, Sakura!" she screamed. "Are you shocked?" Sakura asked. "What is that supposed to mean!?" She smiled. "I hope you aren't too shocked, because I'm about to shock you even more." Once again she cast a jutsu. Lightning style. It ran from her arms and hands into the water and traveled all over the place. Konan's eyes widened and she disappeared out of the water. _Rats, where did she go? _Sakura thought, feeling around with her chakra. She got her answer soon after when she had to quickly block an oncoming barrage of needles with an earth barrier. Sakura panted. _This is going to last a while, I may have to use my kekkai genkai!_


	2. Chapter 2

I want to thank all of you who reviewed. This means a lot to me as this is my first story.

Once again I do not own Naruto.

Chapter Two

Sakura stood there waiting for Konan to come out of the shadows. _If I have to use my kekkai genkai, _she thought, _I'm going to have to be quick about it. _She stood there for about five minutes but Konan never came out. _She didn't chicken out did she?_ She didn't. When Sakura looked down she saw a bunch of weeds snaking their way up her leg so slowly and sneakily she didn't feel it. _Oh snap._ She quickly performed her last elemental jutsu. Fire. She set her hands and feet ablaze and burned the weeds to dust. "Come out, come out, wherever you are Konan. I'm tired of playing hide and seek." Konan finally came out with a scowl on her face. "Just what are you? You keep spewing out different elements here and there, and I can't keep up with you!" Sakura smirked. "What am I? I am the best medic nin in Konoha, I am ANBU captain, I'm about to become one of the next legendary sannin, and I am the next in my clan to become the leader of the Elemental village.

"Shut up, shut up!" Konan screamed. "You know very well I should have gotten the post of leader, but no your perfect little family has to be the one's to get it! I'm sick of it and I will attain what I desire!" She then started running at Sakura with a drawn sword. _It's time_. Sakura thought. She then quickly shut her eyes and sent her five different chakra lines all over her body.

If you were to look towards Sakura, look away, and then look back towards her a second later, you would think you were imagining things. When Sakura sent her chakra out, her dragon tatoo started moving. Once it spread all over her body it glowed a brilliant red color. Sakura then started changing. Her hair grew longer with red highlights through it. When you looked at her hands and feet, you could see they grew claws. Her skin turned a light pink, she grew a spiky tail. If you looked closely you could see a hint of smoke coming out of her nose, and her eyes turned more of a yellowish green color with slanted pupils. Last but not least, she grew black batlike wings. Some people, if they didn't run away from her, would say she looked like a mutant lizard. She was, in a sense, a dragon.

With her new and improved eyesight, she could see Konan falter at what was now in front of her. _Good, I scared her, now I must hurry with this. _Sakura disappeared right when Konan was going to stab her. She looked around wildly but couldn't find Sakura. "Now, who's playing hide and seek?" she said mockingly, albeit,a bit scaredly. "_I'm not playing hide and seek." _Konan looked around wildly again. "Where are you!?" _"What, you can't recognize a genjutsu when you're in one? Hmph, I am everywhere. Above, behind, below, and in your mind. Dragon's have a tendency to like being in different places at once." _Konan was now even more scared. "I don't believe this! I can't cancel the genjutsu!"

"That is because you are too weak to cancel a fifth level genjutsu." "Huh?" Konan looked up. There in a tree was Sakura staring down at her with those yellow eyes. Then, without warning, she attacked. Konan found herself flat against a tree in the next second. She was hypnotized. "Now, do you still want to be the Elemental head? Do you want to become what I am, because this is the kekkai genkai, or curse as i call it, that all Haruno's develop on their sixteenth birthday. It is essential to the clan protection, and I think you can see why." Konan then glared at her. "I don't care what I become, I want to rule over the Elemental village, and all the rest too!" Sakura growled in her throat. " I'm afraid I can't allow that. Goodbye Konan." She then leaned forward and bit Konan in the throat with her fangs. Konan screamed, and struggled, which just succeeded in ripping her throat open more. After five seconds Konan went limp, never to be seen,or heard of again.

Sakura jerked back, panting. She grinned. _Finally, my mission is accomplished, now to get back to others. _Sakura let her chakra fade back to one spot changing her back to normal, with that dragon tattoo on her arm. She looked up, because she could feel the "pig's chakra coming her way at a fast pace. _Heh, she must be coming to drag me back to the real fight. I wonder how they are doing._ Sure enough Ino came into sight and started panting when she stopped in front of Sakura. "Forehead girl, where have you b... Oh, yuck, don't tell me you changed into that dragon just to get rid of her!" " I had to, Ino Pig." Sakura said. " She was very difficult to get rid of." "Oh well, at least that's one Akatsuki member gone. Now let's get back to the others before the fight get's really bad."

They started hopping through trees back to the main village. While they were going, however, Sakura looked back. She didn't feel it anymore, but she could have sworn she felt someone watching her the whole time she was fighting.


	3. Chapter 3

**I want to thank you once again for reviewing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Note: I want to clear up any confusion for those of you who read my story when it first came out. I accidentally deleted it when**

**I was trying to figure out how to add a new chapter. This is the second version of it.**

Chapter Three

When they finally got back to the main village they could see a whole lot more damage than when they left. "If this goes on much longer there isn't going to be anything left of the village." Sakura exclaimed. "I agree with you, but for now, don't you think you better go see what that strange chakra is?" "Huh?" Sakura tried to see through all the smoke,and rubble. She felt more than she saw, a powerful chakra coming from somewhere in the middle. Sakura's eyes widened. She knew that deadly chakra! "Ino, take care of the injured, I have to stop Naruto before his fourth tail evolves and he kills everyone!" She didn't wait for her to respond, she was off like a comet through the smoke. _Please don't let Naruto hurt anyone before I can get there, It'll take me forever to heal them. I should know._ She looked down at her shoulder. The wound she got two years ago from Naruto was faint, but still there.

Once Sakura finally got to the scene where the chakra was coming from she gasped. Naruto was already on his third tail, and it looked like he got rid of half of the enemies. That was a good sign, but that is not what she gasped at. In front of Naruto was Hinata, who was trying to stop him. Naruto didn't recognize anybody at this point and he was about to hit her with one of his tails. At this point Hinata's love for Naruto could cost her, her life. **"HINATA NO"!** Sakura screamed. She started running towards them. Hinata and foxy Naruto both looked toward her. Naruto started to swing his tail, but before he could hit either of the girls, Sakura pushed Hinata out of the way, while barely dodging him herself. "What are you trying to do, Hinata? I know you love him, but you should know better to stay out of his way when he's like this." "B, b, but..." "No but's, I need you to stay still while I try to get this seal on him." She held out a rectangular piece of paper with the word "seal" in kanji on it.

After she showed Hinata the seal, she turned around to analyze when would be a good time to get the seal on Naruto. When she saw he was turned in a different direction she jumped through his tails, onto his back. She hissed. His chakra was so strong it was already starting to burn her, so she quickly placed the seal on his head and hopped down, with a stream of chakra trailing after her. _I better toughen my arm up, because this is going to take awhile._ About thirty minutes later Sakura could see a change in Naruto. His roars were turning to yells, and his chakra was turning back to skin, albeit very red and burnt skin. _Oh, thank goodness. I don't think I could hold my arm up for much longer. _Finally, the last trace of red chakra disappeared into the seal, held up by Sakura's chakra, and went back to her hand. She did a few hand seals and it disappeared.

Sakura walked up to Naruto, who was lying on the ground in a burnt heap. _He looks horrible, I don't think we have time to get him to the hospital._ She looked around. Hinata was standing in the same spot, looking on anxiously. " Do you still want to help Hinata?" Said person jumped. "A, ano... hai." Sakura smiled. "Then go find Ino, she is the only other medic nin strong enough to help me heal Naruto. "Hai, I will." She then ran off. Sakura turned back to Naruto, inspecting him. "Sigh, Naruto you baka, what made you so angry it caused you to turn into the nine-tails?" There was no answer. Sakura got to work looking for any internal damage, and then started to heal his skin. A few minutes later Hinata came running back with Ino in tow. "Sorry it took so long, forehead girl, I had to finish healing Shikamaru." "What happened to him?" "He took a blow to the side with Hidan's long sword thingy." "Weird, I thought Hidan was slow in that aspect, at least Shikamaru's alright." "Yeah" Ino blushed, then asked "What did you want me to do?" "I want you to help me heal Naruto's legs. I know the nine-tails helps him heal fast, but this will speed up the process even more." "Got it."

They got to work healing Naruto, with Hinata holding his head in her lap. They were talking medical mumbo jumbo that Hinata couldn't understand. She did catch the part where he should be awake and back to his old self in about an hour. That gave her hope that he would be alright. _Naruto. _she thought affectionately.

Several minutes later they saw the rest of the rookie nine come up to them. "Well, we finally beat all the Akatsuki. How's Naruto?" Kiba asked. " He should be fine in an hour." Sakura told him. "Yosh, he should be. The power of youth shall awaken him!" exclaimed Lee joyously. Everyone sweatdropped. Soon there was someone else who came. This time an ANBU. "Excuse the interruption everyone, but the Hokage would like the three ANBU captains to go see who these intruders are. There seems to be three of them. A tall, orange haired one, one with sharp teeth, and a woman with red hair." Sakura, Neji, and Shikamaru looked at each other and nodded. "Ino continue taking care of Naruto. If he should awaken before we get back tell him where we are." Sakura said. She then left to the main gates with the other two ANBU captains.


	4. Chapter 4

**I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a while. I've had so much homework to do,**

**that I haven't had time to write anymore. To make it up to you, here is a longer chapter**

**than my others. **

**Disclaimer: You all should know this by now. I don't own Naruto.**

Chapter Four

While the three ANBU's got closer to the main gates, they discussed between themselves, how they were going to find out who the three intruders were. "I have a vague idea of who they might be," said Shikamaru "but, I'm not going to jump to conclusions." Neji nodded. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but it is best not to jump to conclusions, until we find out if they are friend or foe." "Hai, that's exactly the reason why I am going to stay back a bit." The other two looked at Sakura, confused. "I will observe them, how they act, and if they look like they are going to attack. If they do, I can be backup, and if they don't, I will come down and interrogate them myself." "Good idea, Sakura. I will activate my byakuugan, just to see if they brought any others with them waiting in the shadows to strike. If i don't find anything, I'll deactivate it. Sound good to you Shikamaru?" He sighed. "Hn, troublesome. I suppose I could ask them their origins, but I'd rather be at home, asleep." Neji shook his head, and Sakura faintly smiled.

When they got to the gate, there indeed, was three people. Two men and a woman. Sakura nodded to the other two and retreated to the shadows of a nearby roof. From there, she saw Neji and Shikamaru land in front of the intruders. They were an odd bunch, but they seemed familiar somehow.

The tallest guy, the one with orange hair, seemed to be the kindest of the three. He had light brown eyes, and sharp facial features. At first glance, you would probably be scared of him, what with his height of 8.2 and his spiky hair. His clothes were simple. His trousers orange, and his tunic brown. What made Sakura think of him as kind though, was not his eyes or his face. It was the way he held himself. He had faded his chakra, unlike the other two, and he even smiled and offered his hand to the two captains. Yet, she had a feeling that he had another side to him, an evil side, that he couldn't control.

She then looked at the next guy. At first, all she could see was purple. He had on a dark purple tank top with a light lavender stripe running horizontally through the middle of it. His pants were black with a purple lightning shape running down one leg. His boots were even purple! Sakura thought his silvery purple hair looked like a girl's. It was long and shaggy, but well groomed for a guy. Now, that she got past all the purple, she found he had sort of a shark like appearance. When he smiled, you could see his teeth were long and sharp, in a triangular shape. His skin was so pale, it was almost grey, and his charcoal eyes were predatory. She saw what looked suspiciously like Zabuza's sword on his back. He must take an interest to long and bulky swords.

Turning her eyes away from Mr. Purple, she then looked at the last,and only woman. She then thought she would rather look at all that purple. In simple terms, she was ugly. Her blood red hair was uneven. It was long and straight on one side, and short and layered on the other side. Her red eyes would be pretty if they weren't covered by those big square spectacles. Her lavender shirt was half open on the bottom, with long sides, showing her bellybutton. Her black shorts looked more like daisy dukes. They didn't come halfway to her knees, and her boots didn't go well with that outfit at all. To Sakura, she looked like a wannabe...she didn't even know.

She now focused less on their looks, and more on the conversation that was going on. From what she could tell, it looked like they didn't want to tell Neji and Shikamaru their names without knowing theirs first. Sakura raised an eyebrow. Didn't they know that in the ninja world your always supposed to introduce yourself before you command to know somebody else's name? They didn't look like they were posing a threat, and Neji had turned off his byakuugan, so she thought it safe to go down there and get their names herself. She decided to let herself be known.

"It is proper for a ninja to tell another their name before they ask for someone else's." Sakura said. The three unknown ninja looked up, shocked to see her there. The woman finally said something. "Who are you to order us around. You don't look like a ninja. You look more like a pink haired dork." Sakura's eyes narrowed. The next thing the red haired girl knew, Sakura was right in front of her. "I will let that comment slide if you tell me your name and theirs." She snorted. "Why should I tell you my name?" "Because, if you don't I shall be forced to punch you all the way through those gates and back to where you came from." She raised up a chakra covered hand for emphasis. "Heh, I like this girl." said the purple guy. The woman glared at him. "Shut up, Suigetsu." Sakura's eyes widened. She looked at Neji and Shikamaru, they nodded to her. So that's why these people looked so familiar. They were Sasuke's new team. Team Hawk. "I think I know who you are," she said. Karin laughed at her. "Oh really? Try me. Who am I?"

Sakura smirked. "You are the Uchiha's new team. Team Hawk. The tall orange haired guy is Jugo. He has the curse seal, and converts into an evil person who likes to kill. Only the Uchiha can control him." She looked at Jugo while she said this. He looked stunned. She then turned to Mr. Purple. "You are Suigetsu. Known to turn to water to defend yourself from physical attacks, yet are in danger of electricity. You also want to acquire all the seven Legendary Swords of the Mist. You have Zabuza's on your back, and only lack Kisame Hoshikage's. I'll tell you this, he is already dead." Suigetsu looked a little disappointed, but then perked up again at this news. He would finally have all the swords!

Lastly, she turned to the woman. "You are Karin. A fangirl, worse than Ino, of the Uchiha so I percieve. You are known to have good chakra control. You can spot a team of eight ninja, even a dog, coming your way. If this was so, though, why didn't you notice me on the rooftop?" Karin was glowering by now. "For your information, I wasn't paying attention at that very moment. These two goons here intercepted us from our mission." Sakura furrowed her brow. "Mission?" "Hai, that is the only thing we got out of her." Sakura looked back at Shikamaru. "It turns out, they were sent here for a message for you." "WHAT!" shrieked Karin. "That pink haired freak is the Haruno? This can't be! How can Sasuke-kun even have an interest in, let alone know, her!" Sakura glared at her. "Yes, on the contrary, I am Sakura Haruno. Yes the Uchiha knows me, because I was on Team 7 with him and Naruto. I daresay I even know your "dear _Sasuke-kun_" better than you do. Karin started turning red in the face. "How dare you assume that... that..." Sakura ignored her and turned to the other two. "Since your so-called teammate wants to harp on about the Uchiha, will one of you kindly restrain her before she blows up, and tell me what the message was?" Suigetsu grinned his sharky grin. "Sure,sure Pinky, whatever you wish." He then went and sprayed Karin with his water, causing her to shut up immediately and glare at Suigetsu. Jugo then proceeded to speak. "Sasuke-san watched your fight with that blue haired girl, and he wants you to join our team. He thinks you could be a good asset at getting around traps, and getting into places, like the Akatsuki base for instance. It turns out you didn't kill all the Akatsuki."

Everyone was silent during this speech. Neji and Shikamaru both looked stunned. Suigetsu just grinned, and Karin looked murderous. Sakura was the most shocked of all. She just stood there and stared at Jugo. _He wants me on his team? He was the one who was watching me during that fight with Konan earlier? He finally noticed me? NO! No, no no. Don't get your hopes up Sakura, he just thinks you'll be a good asset to his team. You should know better than that. It's tempting, but I'm going to have to decline. I need to keep up my uncaring facade, and besides, I don't want to be heartbroken by someone who doesn't even care, again._

Sakura looked at Team Hawk. "I'm sorry but I have no interest in joining your team." Jugo and Suigetsu looked sad while Karin looked jubilant. "You can tell the Uchiha to find someone else to help him. I was available a long time ago but now I have better things to do. Sorry, you had such a waste of a trip. To make it up to you, there is a hotel not far from here that you can stay in for the night. They will provide food. After that you may go back to Sound or wherever you came from. I must get back to the main village. Naruto is sure to be awake by now. Goodbye." She then turned around and left with Neji and Shikamaru leaving a stunned Team Hawk in her wake.


	5. Chapter 5

**I hope you all have liked my story so far. It is getting difficult to **

**think of anything to type. Oh well. I'll manage.**

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

Chapter Five

On their way back to Naruto and the others, Sakura tried not to think of what had just passed. She wasn't so successful, because her mind kept going back to it, no matter how much she tried to avoid it. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. You should have went with them. That way you could see Sasuke-kun again. No,he would probably just call me annoying and avoid me again. This was for the best Sakura, you must maintain your mask._ She didn't like this thought to much though, and she was about to go into a state of depression. Her teammates looked at her with sympathy, thinking it best not to say anything.

She wasn't able to stay in a depression long, for the call she knew so well brought her up from her down. Sakura looked up and smiled, forgetting, for the moment, her dilemma. There was Naruto running to her and yelling. "SAKURA-CHAN!" He glomped her, almost knocking her down. Sakura sighed. "I see you're back to your usual cheerful self Naruto." "YES I AM, AND IT'S ALL THANKS TO YOU!" He then proceeded to hug her even harder. The others walked up to them and Tenten rolled her eyes. "You don't have to scream it to the whole world you knucklehead." During this little speech Hinata was watching Naruto and Sakura. Her eyes widened. Apparently Naruto was was hugging Sakura a little too tight, because she was now turning blue. "A..ano..N..Naruto-kun?" Said boy looked around at her. "Yes, Hinata-chan?" "I... I don't think Sakura can breathe." "Huh?" He looked back at Sakura and found she was indeed turning purple by now. "AHH, I"M SORRY SAKURA-CHAN!" He hastily let go causing Sakura to fall to the ground.

Panting, she stood back up and glared at Naruto, then she bonked him on the head. "Naruto, you baka! You didn't have to squeeze me so tight." Holding his head, he only smiled at her sheepishly. Sakura just shook her head. _Same old Naruto. Even if he's just gotten out of a battle, he still manages to act like a knucklehead. _ She smiled. _He wouldn't be our Naruto though, if he wasn't a knucklehead._ The others seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Sakura,because they all shook their heads and grinned at Naruto to.

"Well, it is nice to see so many smiling faces after a battle as hard as this one." The rookie nine all turned to see who the source of the voice was. It was the hokage, Tsunade. "I am proud of you all, I should promote all of you to ANBU level, but I know some of you don't want that." She looked toward Chouji and Ino as she said this. "That's not what I'm here to talk to you about though, the village needs repairing." "So you're saying you want us to help rebuild the village tomorrow, instead of going on missions?" asked Kiba. Tsunade nodded. "I don't think there will be too many missions any time soon Kiba, the village is top priority right now. I know today has been tiresome for you, that is why I'm sending all of you to bed early. Get a good night's rest, and be ready to start work in the morning. Sakura, I want to talk to you for a minute, the rest of you are dismissed." They nodded and left.

Sakura looked at Tsunade. "What did you want to talk to me about?" "First of all, I want to know why you went off and fought an Akatsuki member by yourself." Sakura looked down, then back up at Tsunade. "I informed you about a year ago of my past, and how I remembered it. Well, Konan was the one who tried to kill my family for the post of leader. I didn't know she had become an Akatsuki member and when I saw her that just made me angrier, so I confronted her. She left and I had to follow her. That's how I ended up on the other side of Konoha." Tsunade looked grave. "You could have been killed Sakura, and you know you're like a daughter to me. I'm just glad you mastered that dragon form kekkai genkai of yours." Sakura smiled at that. "The other thing I wanted to talk to you about was the three visitors you just went to see about. Who were they and what did they want?"

Sakura's smile slid off her face. Memories of that encounter now came flooding back to her making her sad again. She told the story to Tsunade though, to the best of her ability. She told her about how they wouldn't tell Neji and Shikamaru their names, and she had to go down and drag it out of them. She told her how they looked and acted, and then about the information they had for her. Tsunade's eyes widened at the part where Sasuke supposedly found her good enough to join team Hawk. She then got angry but didn't show it to Sakura. "Well, that is an interesting story, but I'm glad you declined it. Are you alright?" "Yes, I'm alright Tsunade, it just came as a shock to me that's all." The hokage nodded. "I have one favor to ask of you,and then I shall not impose upon your rest any longer." Sakura cocked her head. "What's that Tsunade?" "Tomorrow, instead of helping out rebuilding with the others I would like you to help me with the patients." "I shall be pleased to do that Tsunade." She nodded, relieved. "Very well then, you are dismissed." She then poofed back to her headquarters, and Sakura walked home.

That night, after she showered and got dressed for bed, Sakura sat on her window seat looking up at the stars. She thought over all the day's events, starting with the fight with Konan, then getting Naruto back to normal,and lastly, Team Hawk. _It has been a very long day. I wouldn't be surprised if we were all tired in the morning, no matter how much sleep we got. _Sakura thought. Her thoughts then turned over to Sasuke. She didn't know how she should feel after finding out he watched her fight. The conclusion, she supposed, didn't turn out too well. Why would I want to join Team Hawk when they already have four perfectly good ninja? If she were to see any of the members of team hawk again she would just have to turn around and go in the other direction. No matter how much she wanted to know of Sasuke's condition._ This stinks, all I want to do is go with them and at least catch a glimpse of Sasuke. I can't do that though, because if he thinks I'm still a fangirl he would probably send me away,or worse, leave me again._ She thought of that night he left and how silly she acted then. She should have known he would reject her, but no she had to go and confess her love to him!

Sakura could feel tears starting to come to her eyes. _Weird, I haven't cried in almost two years, why now? Why does anything considering Sasuke always do this to me? _She decided to just let her tears run down her face for awhile. About an hour later she wiped her red and puffy eyes and got into bed. She was so tired that, when she closed her eyes, she fell asleep immediately. Tomorrow she would once again have that emotionless mask on. Tomorrow she would not think about Sasuke, if she had to say anything she would call him "Uchiha-san". Tomorrow she would be healing the ones who got wounded in the fight. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for the reviews! I feel so elated that people actually like my story.**

**Naruto is not mine. It belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

Chapter Six

The next morning the sun rose, illuminating a sleeping figure. She was sound asleep until she was awakened by an irritating noise. _Tap tap tap...tap tap tap. _There was a bird tapping on her window. The figure groaned and threw the closest thing she could find, her kunai, toward the source of the sound. The bird just flew above it and started tapping on the window again. _Darned bird, _the figure thought, _what does it want at this time of the morning? _She got up, revealing the disheveled pink head of Sakura Haruno,hobbled over to the window, and opened it. The bird flew in and dropped a letter on her head then flew off. Sakura grumbled picking the letter off her head. _All that tapping just to fly in a drop a letter on my head. Oh well, at least it wasn't bird droppings. _She opened the letter and looked at its contents. It went something like this:

**Sakura,**

**Don't hurt the bird! I know I am contacting you a little earlier than I had planned but the patients seem to be getting worse by the hour. The nurses don't have enough experience to handle it. This is why I need you to come in as soon as you can. We can't afford to lose anymore ninja. Check yourself first though, I don't want you running out of chakra in the middle of healing someone. See you in a few.**

**Tsunade**

Sakura sighed and got into the shower. She checked herself for any chakra shortage. She had none, it had regenerated while she was asleep. The only thing that was wrong was that she was tired. Yesterday had drained her energy more than anything else. The shower helped her wake up a little bit though, because when she stepped out she no longer felt disoriented. Hastily, she put on a red pair of shorts and a white tank top with some blue sandles. Her white medic coat went on over those. There was no time to get decked out like she was yesterday. Checking that she had everything she needed she left the house, locking the door behind her.

In the space of about ten seconds she was at the hospital. Having supersonic dragon speed definitely had its perks. The lady behind the desk greeted her good morning and checked her in. Sakura asked her where Tsunade was, and she told her. She thanked her and proceeded to room nineteen on the third floor, where she presumed Tsunade was. When she walked in the room, there was Tsunade, bending over a man who had a bloody gash all the way up his chest. Tsunade looked up. "Ah, there you are Sakura, I need you to help me mend up this wound." Sakura nodded and walked up to them. The man looked pretty bad. It wasn't just his chest that was bleeding. He had a black eye, and a scar running down his cheek. His hair looked like it had been cut half off with a sword, just barely missing his head. If you looked down lower you could see his legs were all mottled and bruised, and his arm was broken. It looked like he had been through a grinder and back twice.

Her eyes softening with sadness, Sakura sent chakra to her hands, making them glow a soft green. Placing her hand upon his chest she starting sealing up his wound. Tsunade told her that he couldn't move, so he would have to stay in the hospital for a few more days. Nodding her head Sakura could already see progress in the healing.

The rest of her day was about the same way. She had to heal a lot more people who had gotten so bad that the regular nurses couldn't heal them. By five that evening Sakura was sitting at her office desk, exhausted. _This was more tiresome than I thought. The nurses don't seem to be good for anything. There is not enough medic nins like me,and if we don't get anymore, I may have to start training some people myself. _She thought about who would be good for the job. _Hinata would probably faint at the sight of blood. Tenten is more of a fighter than a healer. Temari lives too far away, and besides she doesn't want anything to do with handling injured bodies. Gaara and Kankuro are handful enough for her. Hmm, Ino is probably the only one that could advance to medic nin level. She has already trained under me, so I think she can handle a little more rigorous training._

Her mind made up, Sakura went to Tsunade's office. She knocked when she got there. Before Tsunade told her to come in, Sakura heard the sounds of sake being hastily put back up. She shook her head, and decided she wouldn't mention anything about that. "Enter." Came the gruff voice of Tsunade. Sakura went in and stopped in front of her desk. "Sakura!" "What in the world brings you here, you are done for the day." Sakura nodded. "I know that. I just wanted to ask your permission on something." The hokage's eyes narrowed. "Permission for what?" "Well, you know as well as I do of the scarcity of medic nins. It can be a bit tiresome, like it was today, and I was thinking of training someone to become a medic nin myself. It shouldn't be too much trouble since she has already had experience of my training."

Tsunade stared at her, contemplating what she just said. She then smiled. "I think that is a great idea Sakura, I have no problem with it. I assume you mean Ino don't you?" "Hai, if she will agree to my request, and you give us some time off to train." "If she happens to agree I will give you three hours everyday to train her in the higher degrees of the medic field. Plus I want you to teach the other girls something as well." Sakura looked confused. "What would that be Tsunade-shishou?" "In place of teaching Ino how to maintain chakra control I want you to teach the girls how to control their chakra element since you have all of them." Sakura's eyes widened. "Are you saying that, including me, the girls make up all five of the elements?" Tsunade grinned. "You catch on fast. I feel it would be the easiest way to teach them since they know you. If you succeed in teaching them, you could form your own team. The Elemental Five."

Sakura looked incredulous. _This is more than I bargained for, but it would be exciting to teach them the skill they need. We could show the guys how much we improved. _Sakura looked back up at Tsunade. "If you don't mind my asking, who exactly has what element?" "Let's see. I believe Tenten has the earth element. You know Temari has the air element. Hinata calms the water, and Ino controls lightning. You, of course, have control of all of the elements, but fire is your strongest one." Mixed with their, and your, elements, you could be invincible." Sakura thought about this. _Wow, my own team. Tsunade's right with a little bit of all attack elements we could kick some butt! I better not look too excited about this, Tsunade might think I'm doing it just for more power. I must continue to look professional._ "When should I ask them Tsunade-shishou?" "Right now if you like, they should be done rebuilding for the day." Sakura nodded and left.

She found the girls, minus Temari, at Ichiraku's. She would be surprised that Naruto wasn't there with them, but he had to rest after yesterday's events. "Hey Forehead girl, where have you been?" Ino asked. The other girl's were all looking at Sakura to. "I had to help out in the hospital. There is something I want to talk to you all about." They looked at each other then back to Sakura. "What's wrong Sakura?" Tenten asked. "Nothing bad, in fact I think you might find it interesting." She then proceeded to tell them all that Tsunade told her. About her teaching Ino and training all of the girls with their elements. They looked dumbfounded. "R...really I..I didn't know I had my own e...element." Hinata stuttered. "Me neither, hey Sakura when are you going to train us? I look forward to having medic nin training to." Ino exclaimed. "I start training you, Ino, tomorrow. Be at the hospital labratory at six-o-clock sharp." "Six? Man, forehead girl, you sure are mean." Sakura glared. "You want to learn don't you Ino pig?" She looked at the others without waiting for a response. "I will start training you to learn how to control your chakra element when I call Temari and she get's here. I will contact you in about four days. That should be long enough for Temari to get here. Ino, I will see you in the morning when?" "Six-o-clock sharp" Ino grumbled. "Good, goodbye." "Bye" they all said. Sakura poofed home.

That night she performed the summoning jutsu and sent one her small messenger dragons to Suna. She would have sent Saphira, since she is her favorite dragon, but she was too big. Temari should be sending her a response back at nine tomorrow. That gives her two and a half hours with Ino and a half hour to get back home. Sakura sighed. She couldn't wait until then. She wanted to train her fellow girl's how to fight a little better. Ino would help her out to, if she learned the hard stuff. She already knew the basics. Yawning, Sakura got ready for bed. She fell asleep instantly,as she was tired out from the last two days. Tomorrow was going to be another busy day. Hopefully it would be a little better though.

If she had stayed awake a little bit longer she would have noticed a figure appear and look at her through the window. He wouldn't be there long. He was just seeing how much she had changed. He couldn't see well from where he was though so his eyes changed. They were black, but they were now a brilliant red.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks again for the reviews. I'm doing something a little different now.**

**After you finish reading this chapter, I want at least nine more reviews before I continue.**

**Constructive critisism is something I can take.**

**I don't own Naruto. Remember: NO NINE REVIEWS NO CHAPTER EIGHT!**

Chapter Seven

It was 5:58 a.m. Two minutes before Ino was due to arrive. Sakura sat in the rafters hoping to surprise her when she came in. All her medical stuff was laid out on one of the lab tables. Sakura sighed, two minutes sure did seem long when you wanted to surprise somebody, and teaching Ino was going to be hard work. She didn't have to wait much longer though, because just then, Ino came in the door, slightly out of breath. "Are you happy Forehead girl, I got here just in t..." She stopped, looking around. She didn't see Sakura anywhere, but her stuff was on the table. _Did she step out for something? _she thought, confused. Up in the rafters Sakura grinned. She knew just the thing to scare the wits out of the pig. When Ino was occupied with looking at the medical stuff Sakura silently hopped down and went right behind Ino. She shut her eyes for a moment, letting her chakra run to them, and when she opened them again they were her yellow slitted dragon eyes. She did look kind of creepy.

Ino felt a tap on her shoulder. She felt Sakura's presence and she turned around. There, staring at her, was two yellow eyes. It was silent for a second or two and then Ino screamed. "AHHHHHHH GET AWAY GET AWAY I DON'T WANT TO BE EATEN!!" Flailing her arms she succeeded in knocking Sakura to the ground. Laughing, she let the chakra disappear from her eyes. "Ha ha ha! Ino you should have seen your face!" Ino glared at the still giggling Sakura. "That wasn't funny Sakura. You almost gave me a heartattack!" Stifling her giggles Sakura looked up at her. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. You always get scared by me. You should know better by now." Ino harumphed and looked away, crossing her arms over her chest. Sighing, Sakura stood up and brushed herself off. "Alright, fun's over. It's time to get down to business." She walked to the other side of the table and looked at Ino. She was still sulking. Sakura cocked her head. "Do you want me to scare you into learning this or are you going to do it yourself?" "I'll do it myself." Ino finally said. She turned around and looked at Sakura, cocking an eyebrow. "Right, let's get to work, and remember Ino. After you learn how to heal major wounds. The real work begins." Ino gulped.

Two and a half hours later Sakura was walking back to her house. _That went pretty well for Ino's first time healing an animal._ Ino had succeeded in reviving a hurt bird, and it flew off. Ino was pretty excited about that and she wouldn't stop talking about it. Speaking of birds, when Sakura got to her room, there was one on her windowsill with a letter in its mouth. _It must be Temari's reply! _Hurriedly Sakura put her stuff down and retrieved the letter from the bird. It flew off, squaking. Sitting down on her bed Sakura read Temari's letter.

**Sakura,**

**It's been so long since I've spoken to you. I'm doing all right, mostly learning new jutsu and trying to keep Gaara, or the Kazekage in your case, from killing Kankuro. He won't seem to stop teasing Gaara about something unknown to me. Hmph, oh well, I'll find out eventually. Actually I want to thank you for providing me with an excuse to come to Konoha. I would love to be on your team with the other girls. I suppose you will recieve this around nine something. I should be at the Konoha gates by noon tomorrow evening. I know I know, you usually don't expect me that soon, but I left right after I sent the bird with this letter. I just can't wait for more training! I look forward to training under you **_**Haruno-sensei**__**.**_** See you and the other's soon! **

**Temari No-Subaku**

Sakura felt giddy. Tomorrow she could start training her fellow kunoichi's in the art of chakra control. It was sooner than she expected, so she decided to go find the girl's and tell them training would be set earlier than planned. She went to all their houses, and any places they might be but she couldn't find them anywhere. _Weird, I was just with Ino, how could she disappear this quick? _Sakura thought about it some more. _They're not in their houses so that must mean they are together somewhere. Now that I think about it, there is still some repairing going on the mountain. Perhaps I should look there. _With that thought in mind, Sakura sped off on rooftops to her destination. Sure enough, when she got there, there they were. They were trying to lift a heavy log that used to keep water from running down into the village. It didn't look like they were having much luck. _That's another thing I've got to teach them. _Sakura thought, and walked up to them.

"Need any help?" The girl's all looked at her. "Sakura, what are you doing here, aren't you in the hospital by this time?" asked Tenten. Sakura shook her head. "I didn't have to help out today. I was teaching Ino remember?" She then walked up to the log and lifted it as easily as if it were a sack of feathers. She took it to the edge of the mountain and sealed it there with some of her chakra bindings. It was strong enough to keep the log from moving anymore. That done, she wiped her hands together and looked back toward the girl's. They were all gaping at her. "What? It's not like you haven't seen me lift heavy stuff before." Ino shook her head to wake herself up. "We know that, but it's still shocking to see you pick up about a thousand pound log that three people can't pick up all by yourself." "What did you come up here for anyway?" Sakura grinned.

"Ah, about that. Temari sent me a letter." The girl's eyes widened again, and they all rushed to her. "W...what did she s..say?" Hinata asked. Sakura told them, and then showed them the letter as if to prove it. "Wow, tomorrow? This is wonderful, I get to see Temari again!" Ino shouted. "Yeah, just don't start fighting with her over Shikamaru again." Tenten told her. Ino glared. "I do not like Shikamaru!" The other three raised their eyebrows at her. "I didn't ask you that." Tenten said smugly. Ino, realizing her mistake, flushed a deep red. Chuckling Sakura turned around to view her village. From this height she could see everything. It was quickly being restored to its old glamour. Maybe even better. Sakura sighed. She didn't know what to do with herself now that she didn't have anything to do until tomorrow. It was only ten-o-clock, and if she wasn't careful, she might start daydreaming about Sasuke again. That wouldn't help her concetrate at all tomorrow, so she asked, once again. "Need any help?"

Apparently, they did need her help. They kept her going until nine that night. Tired and sore, Sakura trudged home, wishing to take a shower. Hopefully she would be revived in time in the morning to go meet Temari at the gates. Before she could get home though, a voice called out to her. "Sakura-chan!" It was Naruto, waving her over from Ichiraku's. _Oh well, it's nice to see Naruto out of bed rest, and I am a little hungry. _Changing her direction, she trudged over to Naruto and sat down beside of him. "One miso ramen please." She told Ayame. Turning to Naruto she smiled. It seemed for once he didn't have anything to say. He just wanted her company, and sluping...or should I say inhaling, his ramen didn't help much either. Turning her chopstics around her bowl that was just set in front of her, she started eating.

Naruto had asked her what was going on, and in between bites, Sakura told him everything. From her fight with Konan to the training she was about to give to Hinata and the other girl's. Naruto's eyes widened when she came to the part about Sasuke and he started yelling. Sakura had to try to quite him down before he caused a commotion. "I'm fine Naruto, it was just a bit of a shock to me that's all, and besides I declined the offer." Naruto's head lowered. "Yeah, but it would have been nice to bash that teme's head in though." Sakura's look saddened. Naruto alway's thought of Sasuke as a brother, and it killed him as much as it did her, when he left. It was even more of a blow to him when they saw Sasuke again two years ago. Sakura hugged him and tried to cheer him up. "It'll be all right Naruto, I'm sure you'll get the chance someday. Maybe even sooner than you think. Besides, you still have me here to bash _your _head in don't you?" Naruto grinned. "You're right Sakura, what am I moping about?"

He looked down at his ten bowls of ramen and looked back up at Sakura sheepishly. Scratching the back of his head he said, "Heh heh, hey Sakura, do you mind paying for these? I don't have enough money." Sakura glared at him. Naruto started sweating. "Heh, see ya around Sakura, gotta go!" He left. Sakura yelled. "Naruto you baka!"

After emptying her allowance paying for her's and Naruto's ramen Sakura was once again trudging home. She tried to get her annoyance with Naruto out of her head by thinking about that shower again. She finally unlocked the door to her house and went in. She stopped. There was something that woke her up more than that shower. She felt unfamiliar chakra, someone was in her house. Cautiously, she tiptoed up to her room with a kunai in her hand. She opened her door, and raised her kunai quickly, but before she threw it, she stopped. There, sitting on her bed, was the last person she expected. The person looked at her. "Hello Sakura...you miss me?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, I'm back everyone! Sorry for the long wait in between chapters, I was waiting**

**to see if I would get all the reviews I asked for. I didn't. But you all helped by putting **

**me on your favorite stories,or authors lists. That counts to!**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto!**

**Note: The person is not who you think it is!**

Chapter Eight

Sakura stood there for a good ten seconds, just staring at the intruder on her bed. The kunai was still in her outstretched hand. Slowly she lowered it, but didn't put it up in case it was a trick. There, sitting cross legged on her bed, with her own kunai spinning in her hand, was Temari. She grinned. "Registering by the shock on your face, I would say you are surprised to see me. You also missed me, I can tell. Well, I certaintly missed you, that's why I rushed to get here earlier than I said I would." Temari cocked her head at Sakura's stony expression,then her eyes turned mischievious. "Who were you expecting? Your dear _Sasuke-Kun_?" That woke Sakura up. "How dare you! Coming in and plopping down on my bed in the middle of the night unannounced, and while I'm not here either! Also, I was not expecting that Uchiha, I'm over him!"

Temari burst out laughing. "Ha ha ha ha. As if! You should have seen your face when I said that!" Still giggling she reached behind her and pulled out her big fan. "Here can you put this up for me. I don't want it to get bent." Sakura sweatdropped, face still red. _Sheesh, how can she be laughing one minute and be all serious the next? It's like she has a multiple personality disorder. Where did that fan come from anyways, it's so huge! _Sighing Sakura took the fan and placed it in a safe corner with her weapons. Hearing a sound Sakura turned back around. She sweatdropped again. Temari was already snoring away on her bed. Shaking her head, she went up to her and pulled the covers around her. _She did have a long trip. Running at high speed here didn't help matters either. _She finally took a quick shower, and fell asleep on a futon. She would surprise the girl's tomorrow.

**Bang! Clang! **Sakura fell out of her futon. _What the heck is that noise? _Getting up she followed the sound into the kitchen. Sakura's eyes widened. It looked like a tornado had went through it. The walls were covered in flour and egg yolk, the floor was flooded around the sink, and the stove looked like it was boiling over. The countertop didn't look much better either. Looking past all that, she found the source of the commotion. Temari was banging pots and pans together trying to find the one that she wanted. She looked up. "Oh, good morning Sakura, do you happen to have a pan larger than this? I'm trying to fix some breakfast." Sakura cocked an eyebrow. _What would she need with a pan that's is larger than my biggest one, is she trying to cook an elephant? _"Temari." She looked at Sakura. "Yes?" "You don't know how to cook do you?"

Temari glared. "At least try it first!" She thrust the egg pan under her nose. Sakura went cross eyed. Sighing she picked up an egg and gingerly placed it in her mouth, and chewed. She tried to cover her grimace when she swallowed it. It tasted like rubber. Rubbing the back of her head she said. "I'm sorry Temari, but cooking is not your strong point. At least you know how to defend yourself in a fight." Temari's head drooped. "You don't like them? Gaara and Kankuro don't either. They actually throw up." Looking back up at Sakura she smiled. "Oh well, at least I tried. I'll clean this kitchen up and then we'll go meet the other's." Sakura nodded. "From now on, I'll make breakfast." They went to work. Temari cleaning and Sakura cooking. Her pancakes tasted pretty good. After the kitchen was clean and they ate, they went out to see the girls.

A few minutes later Temari and Sakura were both lying under a pile of excited girls. "When did you get here Temari!" Screamed Ino. "Yeah, we weren't expecting you until later." Tenten exclaimed. Sakura huffed. "You can ask questions as soon as you get off of me!" They didn't listen. They were to busy fussing over Temari. Sakura just plopped down resigned to her fate. Speaking of fate, the one who talks about it the most grabbed her hand and pulled her out. Huffing, she looked at the person who rescued her. It was Neji. Shikamaru was there with him. "Thank you Neji, I was thinking I was going to be squished like a bug." Neji cocked an eyebrow. "Your welcome. What is going on here by the way?" Sakura looked over at the still squabbling girls. "They are excited because their long lost friend,Temari, came for her training." Shikamaru sighed. "What a drag."

The stampede finally broke up. _About time, _Sakura thought. _I never knew they could get so excited about Temari showing up. _Walking over to them, with the two guys in tow she asked. "Are you just about finished?" Hinata nodded sheepishly. "H...hai, and he...hello N...Neji, Sh...Shikamaru." They nodded to her. "Shika! What are you doing here?" Ino shouted when she saw him. Shikamaru winced. "I came to see what all the commotion was about, and don't call me Shika you troublesome woman!" Ino turned red. "What did you call me?!" Tenten and Temari went between them. "All right, break it up you guys, we don't need a fight right now." Tenten told them. "Yeah, I just got here." Temari said. They huffed and looked away. Sakura stood against a wall with her arms crossed. "Can we start now?" "Shikamaru, Neji, you need to leave."

Three weeks later the girls were showing progress. Sakura taught them all that she knew, and they even said she was the best sensei they ever had. Sakura blushed at this. She continued teaching Ino her medic nin classes along with controlling her chakra element during those three weeks. Temari didn't have very much more to learn about her air element,and Tenten was already making the earth move. What made Sakura mad though, was that Ino purposely used her lightning element to set her hair on fire. Hinata then had to put it out with a water jutsu, resulting in Sakura being soaking wet. All in all she was proud of her "students". They were coming along well,and she even told them that they would make a killer team. They were sad when Sakura told them that she had nothing more to teach them. They would continue learning more themselves since they knew the basics.

It was two weeks after she finished training them that she heard a knock on her door. She wasn't expecting anybody so she wondered who it could be. When she opened the door she got a pleasant surprise. Her new teammate, Sai, was standing there with an actual real smile on his face. "Hello hag, how are you." "Sai! I'm so glad to see you. I'm doing great, why don't you come on in." Sai went in and Sakura shut the door behind him. She followed him to the living room and sat down across from him on the couch. "This is a surprise, what brings you here?" Sakura asked. "Well, I"m not here to see you if that's what your thinking, hag." Sakura glared. "Get on with it, and don't call me hag! How many times have I told you that?" She reached over and bonked his head. Sai winced and rubbed his head. "Too many to count."

Sighing he lowered his hand. "Actually, I was sent here to get you by Tsunade. She wants us both in her office pronto." Sakura's brow furrowed. "What could she want us for?" Sai shrugged. "A mission probably." "If it was a mission why just us? What about Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamato?" Sai shook his head. "Don't ask me, ask her, she's the one who called us there." Sakura looked down, thinking. _I don't mind going on a mission, if that's what it is. It's been so long since I've been out of the village and I have nothing else to do. Why would she want just me and Sai though? Oh well, guess I have to find out from her. Speaking of Tsunade, she will be mad if she has to wait too long. _Looking back up at Sai, who was watching her, she told him, "Alright, I'll go with you, I have nothing better to do anyway." Sai nodded and they hopped off to Tsunade's.

When they got there, Sakura knocked on the door. "Enter" came Tsunade's voice. They went in and stood in front of her desk. "I suppose you're wondering why I sent you two here without the other three." Sakura cocked an eyebrow. _Can she read minds? _"I am sending you two on a mission, but it's not really a mission. You will understand when I explain. The two looked at Tsunade expectantly. She smiled. "As a reward for Sakura training the girl's so well, I decided to let her have a five week break from everything." Sakura's eyes widened. "Five weeks?!" "Hai, and I want Sai to go along with you so you don't decide to stay there longer,or get hurt. He was the best choice because he won't question you like the other three. I know you miss your family, so I decided to let you go to the Elemental Village."

Sakura stood there, shellshocked. _Go visit my family? Go back to the Elemental village where I was born? I wonder how much the other's have changed. It's only been two and a half years since I last saw them, but things can change. Me, go back to see my parents, my sisters and my brothers? This is the best thing that Tsunade could have given me. Even if it is just for five weeks. _When she finally looked back up at Tsunade, she had tears in her eyes. "Sniff, thank you so much Tsunade, you don't know how much this means to me." She smiled at her warmly. She had nothing else to say. Sakura turned to Sai. "Now I know why she didn't sent Naruto or the other's. You are the best person to come with me." Sai almost blushed. She smiled. "Well Sai, it looks like were going on a trip tomorrow." "I can't wait."


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while! I've been so busy with homecoming week**

**and everything else! I'll try to write somemore sooner. Thanks for the reviews!**

Chapter Nine

Sai walked up to the gate early the next morning. Sakura was already there, and looked as if she was going to jump out of her socks. "It's about time you got here. I've been waiting for an hour!" Sai yawned. "I'm glad your excited to see your family, but, I didn't plan on waking up at four in the morning." Sakura huffed. "Well, now that you're here can we get going?" "Why would I just stand at a gate for an hour if I was going somewhere, hag?" Sakura glared and bonked him on the head. "I told you not to call me hag!" Sai rubbed his head and groaned. _It's too early in the morning for this. _"All right, all right, I call a truce. Shall we go?" Sakura glared at him some more, but nodded. "That's what I was waiting to hear." They made sure they had all their stuff and jumped onto the nearest tree together and sped off.

After about fifteen minutes of hopping Sai woke up enough to realize something. They hadn't gone through the main gate. He looked around. They were going through a dark and very old forest. The trees were gnarled and he saw strange creatures leering at them with red eyes. He looked down fast enough to dodge an oncoming booby trap. _Why are there traps in this for...wait a minute I know where we are! _He looked ahead. "Um, Sakura, why are we going through the Forest of Death?" "Because, It's faster getting to the village this way, and since I didn't kill every single one of the Akatsuki, they are going to be after my blood. They won't expect me to go through the back." Sakura glanced back at Sai out of the corner of her eye. "Why, are you scared?" Sai huffed. "No" Sakura grinned. "Good, because there is nothing scarier in this forest than me." _I can just about agree with that. _Sai thought.

An hour later, after getting through the death trap, they were finally back on open road. Well, as open as you wanted it to be. They were going through another, but safer, forest. "Are we going to be travelling through a forest the whole trip there?" "Hai, didn't I tell you? My village is hidden behind a dense forest. Not many can find it. Her face went grim. "Although _someone _must have tipped people off about it. Not many people outside of Konoha are fond of the Haruno's. They think we have too much power." Sai lowered his head. He remembered her telling him about the intrusion that killed some of her people. He didn't want to get into it so he tried to cheer her up. "You know I still love you, hag." It worked. Sakura started laughing. "Whatever Sai, it doesn't matter anyways, I already killed Konan, so she can't tell people about it anymore. Besides, I trust you." Sai smiled a true smile.

"You might as well get used to the forest, because we are going to go through about ten more in the course of two days." Sai groaned. Sakura smiled. "Hey, at least nobody can trail us through here." Sai just grunted. By nightfall, they had already covered two and half of another. They found a good spot to set up camp. Stroking the fire that he made, Sai waited for Sakura to get back from washing. They were having fish that night. _Oh well, at least it's better than ramen every night. _He thought back to several missions that he went on with Naruto. All he could think about was stuffing his face with ramen. Sai started chuckling. "What's so funny?" Sakura was back. "Nothing, just thinking how fish is better than ramen." It didn't take Sakura long to figure out what he was talking about. She started laughing with him. "After we eat I'll get the first shift." "You sure?" "I'm sure."

A while later Sakura was sitting in a tree looking out in the darkness. Sai had went to sleep. She had lied about nobody being able to find them. Apparenly someone had and she was just trying to appease Sai. She didn't know who it was, all she knew was that they had a powerful chakra, even if they stayed very far behind them. She first noticed it when she entered the second forest. She moved her hand to her back and felt to see if her Dragon Fire sword was still there. It was. It unnerved her that she couldn't tell if the person was friend or foe. He seemed to have stopped when they made camp and masked his chakra. Sakura didn't really want to leave Sai making that fire. She couldn't see him or feel him anywhere. She knew he was still out there somewhere though. Sakura decided she wouldn't get much sleep that night.

Sai met her up in the tree five hours later. "Why don't you go to sleep. I'll keep watch over our little shadow." Sakura's eyes widened. She thought she had hidden it. Sai raised an eyebrow at her expression. "I'm a ninja, don't think I didn't feel it to." Sakura sighed and nodded. "Be careful, if you see anything wake me immediately." Sai nodded. "I will." Sakura hopped down from the tree and went inside the tent. _Well, so much for trying to hide it. I should have known better. I just hope he will be okay, he doesn't seem strong enough to fight this powerful person on his own. _Sakura looked back out the tent. Sai was sitting cross-legged in the tree and painting. Sakura sweat dropped and brought her head back inside. _Oh, he'll be fine, the emotionless painter. _Sakura shook her and fell asleep instantly.

Two days later,they were getting nearer her village. They could still feel the person following them but they never saw him, or her. They decided to let the person follow them as long as they didn't attack. For all they knew it could be a Black Ops ANBU following them to make sure nothing happened to them. If that was the case though, it must be a new one, because trained ANBU's were untraceable. Trying to forget about it was the best thing they could do at this time. They were already so close to the village. Sakura saw something familiar and smiled. "Hey Sai?" "Hai?" "Do you see that wall up ahead?" Sai looked. He did indeed see a tall wooden structure looming through the trees. He could also see a big white circle painted on it. "The gate to your village, i assume?" Sakura nodded. "Let's go!" They went faster.

A few minutes later they were standing in front of the gate. It must have been thirty feet high. "Who goes there?" They looked up. There was a guard staring down at them from the top. "My name is Sakura Haruno and this is my friend, Sai, we are here to see my family." The guard's eyes lit up. "Sakura, _the _Sakura Haruno? Is it really you?" Sakura smiled. "Long time, no see, Raiford. I almost didn't recognize you." "Me either, come on in!" He opened the gates. Sakura thanked him and walked inside. She felt a sense of relief she hadn't felt in a long time. "Sai, welcome to my home. The Elemental Village." Sai looked around. It was bustling with people and the sign of the Haruno's was everywhere. _It looks like this place has been restored since the incident ten years ago. _Sai smiled. "This is a very nice village Sakura."

Everywhere they walked, Sakura saw old friends again. Many of them came up to her and hugged the daylights out of her. Some of them walked with them and wouldn't stop talking. They talked about how they missed her, how much she had changed, and how she was a hero to them. They were very nice people, but it was getting a little too noisy for Sai. Apparently Sakura thought the same. "Yes, thank you,thank you, it's very nice to see you all again too. I would kind of like to get to my home sometime though." They understood and dispersed as quickly as they came. They continued on to a mansion like house. They walked through the gate and knocked on the door. Sakura felt like she had butterflies in her stomach. The door opened and her house maid stood there. She gasped. "Sakura!" Sakura smiled. "Hello Minny, it's nice to see you again too."


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**I am so so so sorry! It's been so long since I updated.**

**I've been so busy trying to get my computer back in **

**working order! Please forgive me and keep reviewing!**

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Chapter Ten

"Come in,come in." Minny said. "There's no need for you to stand outside of your own home, waiting to be ushered in!" Sakura smiled sheepishly,and stepped into the mansion. "I'll bring your family down in just a few minutes." "Thank you, Minny." Minny scurried upstairs. Sakura looked around the lobby. It seemed that nothing had changed. The pictures of her family were still hanging in the same place on the walls. The marbled floor looked as clean and shiny as ever. She walked into the ballroom with a nostalgic feeling. She could remember when her father tried to teach her how to dance. She was woken up from her daydream by Sai. "This is nice place. I could get used to living here." Sakura scowled. "I know you could, but don't get used to it. We're only staying here for five weeks,and this isn't your house anyway." Sai grunted. Sakura suddenly thought of something. "If you even so much as, call me hag in front of my family, I will throttle you once we are alone." Sai's eyes widened. "Hai,hai, no need to be so mean."

Sakura didn't have a chance to retort. They could hear footsteps and rumbling voices coming towards them. Sai gulped,and Sakura got butterflies in her stomach again. Five people walked through the door. They stopped talking and stared dumbstruck at who was in front of them. Their little pause gave Sakura, and Sai time to see how they looked.

Sakon was the same age as her. He almost looked just like her too. His pink hair was styled in a way that made him look cool, instead of like a funny boy with pink hair. His green eyes always held a michievious glint inside of them, but Sakura hoped it would always stay there. His red tank top held the haruno symbol on the back. His white shorts came to just below his knees. A black pheonix was on his neck,with it's long tail snaking around his arm and across his back. Sakon was the pheonix of the Haruno family. His tattoo turned light blue when he transformed.

Her older brother, Sardon, was the black cat. You couldn't see it because it was on his back. His tatoo turned ebony. Sardon was the silent, brooding one in the family. He also had a lot of fangirls. His skin was a shade paler than Sakura, and Sakon's. His forest green eyes could pierce right through you. His long silvery,white hair was always in a ponytail down his back. Sakura knew some girls who would kill to see his hair undone in all it's glory, and run their fingers through it. He was two inches taller, and had a lean body. Curtesy of all his training as a cat. His black button down shirt was open, showing his abs. Tight black pants with yellow scratch marks through them, and some black boots accentuated his long legs. Make him mad, and he'll act just like his little dragon of a sister. (Sakura for those of you who don't get it.)

Sakura didn't get along with her only sister, Satire, too well. Ever since Satire claimed that she didn't believe that Konan was evil, she held a grudge against her younger sister. Now that Konan tried to kill her, she refuses to give in, and tries to ignore Sakura all together. Satire is as girly as they come. Her attitude around around boys can make her seem as mischievious as Sakon. She doesn't like to fight. She has a tatoo on her leg that turns dark brown when she does have to fight. She is the wild boar. Satire was born a few months after Sardon. Her long hair is more white than silver. She is the only one who inherited her mother's light gray eyes. She chose to wear very short clothes, much to her parent's dismay.

Their mother,Sapphire, is not a Haruno, so she doesn't have the kekkai genkai. She is still a strong woman however. Her light gray eyes could melt someone's heart when she looked at you kindly, or scare the wits out of you if she glared. Her temper could get the best of her sometimes. She wore her medium length pink hair in a bun on top of her head. All in all she was a beautiful woman who loved all her children dearly, no matter what happens. She had slight wrinkles from age,and wore the typical robes of a head Haruno.

Her father was a different matter. Mufasa was difficult to please. He had short, shaggy, silver hair. His green eyed glare was the glare of a leader. He wore a black robe like shirt,with the Haruno symbol on the back. You could see a mesh shirt peeking out from under that. He wore long, billowy, red pants that covered half of his black sandals. On his chest, there resided a tattoo that turned orange when he activated it. Mufasa was the lion. He rarely ever smiled, and when he did it was more of a smirk. He never showed it, but he loved his children just as much as his wife did. He was the one who pushed them to their limits, trying to help them live up to their name. Mufasa always told them that their was room for improvement. Sakura, especially, tried hard to please him, but it never seemed to work. He was the one who erased her memories for a time and told her to leave to a safe place, far away, when the incident happened ten years ago.

Sai and Sakura took in all this in a few seconds. Sai gulped and started sweating taking in the look of Sakura's family. They all looked very intimidating to him. _Now I see where Sakura got her good looks and fiery temper from. She is fit to be the next leader of this village. What am I even doing here?_ While Sai was musing, Sakon ran over to his sister and enveloped her in a tight hug. "Sakura, i'm so glad you're back! How have you been? Did you miss us?" Sakura laughed and hugged him back. "I'm doing all right, and of course I missed you, baka! I missed all of you."

Sakura let go of him and looked at the rest of her family. Sardon and her father both nodded at her, with faint smiles on their faces. Her mother glided over to her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Welcome home, my darling." She said. Sakura started to tear up, and hugged her mom back tightly. Satire stood back with a strange look in her eyes. She walked over and akwardly placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder. Sakura looked up, surprised. Satire's bangs covered her eyes. Suddenly she said, in a small voice. "Will you forgive me?" Sakura's eyes widened. "Huh?" Satire sighed. "I understand now that...that Konan wasn't what I thought her to be. When I heard that she had joined the Akatsuki, and almost killed you, I didn't know what to think. I hadn't saw you in years, and I don't know what I would do if I could never look you in the eyes again. I'm sorry for treating you badly all these years, and I want to make it up to you. Will you forgive me?"

Sakura saw that she was crying, and she really started crying herself. "I forgive you." Satire cried harder and gave her the tightest hug of all. Sai sighed. "All right, enough with the crying spree already. Did you forget about me Sakura?" Sakura blushed and wiped the tears from her face. "Sorry Sai, I just got caught up with my emotions. Sai, this is my parents, Sardon, Satire, and Sakon." She pointed at each on in turn. "Guy's this Sai, he is a good friend of mine who was sent with me, and he also one of my teammates." Sai tried to bow to them. Sapphire waved him off. "No need to bow down to us. A friend of Sakura's is a friend of ours, and we don't do formalities with them." She smiled. Sai blushed.

After all the introductions were over, they all sat down to dinner. Sakura told them about her adventures and that she could only stay for five weeks. She was surprised to learn that Satire had decided to settle down with someone. She thought she was still as wild and crazy as a boar. Sardon is still trying to keep fangirls at bay,so they wouldn't tear up anymore of his clothes. Sakura laughed at this and Sardon bonked her on the head. Sakon was still getting in trouble with the neighbors, and her parents were going on, as strong and steady as ever. They showered Sai with questions that he didn't even have time to answer. Sakura looked over at her father. He was being more silent than usual. She then realized that he was looking at her. "Is there something you need, father?" She still tries to please him, even today. Mufasa nodded. " I want you to come with me to the training ground tomorrow. I'd like to see how you've improved." Sakura's eyes widened. _Yes! Finally,a chance to show him what I can do! _She was jumping up and down on the inside, but she stayed calm on the outside. "Very well then. I will meet you at five-o-clock tomorrow morning." She grinned. "Prepare to be pulverised."


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks for the reviews.**

**There will be a little bit more of HIM mentioned in this chapter.**

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Chapter Eleven

**Bang! Clash! Growl! Roar! **If someone were to look into the Haruno's backyard,they would see a lion and a dragon fighting. Some would do doubletakes, while others were used to the sight of large animals fighting in someone's yard. "Man, they've been going at it for two hours." Exclaimed Sakon. Sardon nodded in agreement. "It seems my little sister has gotten better." They,along with Satire and Sapphire, were sitting out of harms way, watching Sakura fight her father. Satire glanced toward the lone figure standing by a tree. Sai was looking on with an expressionless face. He was twirling a paintbrush in one hand. Satire looked back towards her father and sister. She would have to thank him for being one of the people to help Sakura become strong enough to kill Konan. _Now, if he would just lose that unemotionless state, he will be decent. I wonder what Sakura's other friends are like._

Over toward the other side of the field,Sakura's fight was finally coming to an end. Sakura used all her strength and willpower to knock her father back against a tree and pin him there with kunai. Panting, she changed back to her human form. Mufasa did the same. He stared at her for a while,blood trickling down his head. Sakura noticed this and cautiously went over to him. "I'm sorry about that." She said. "Let me heal you." Without waiting for him to say anything she placed her hand on his head and started healing him with green chakra. She placed a bandage over his small wound afterwards.

Mufasa felt of the bandage and looked at Sakura again. Then he smiled. "You've improved I'll give you that much." He said in his gruff voice. "You still slack off toward the end, though. Come at me with full force next time. You have the perfect chakra control for that. Your chakra control is so good in fact, that i'm willing to teach you how to mold your chakra elements together, so that your attacks will be more powerful, and deadly. How does that sound?" Sakura, along with everyone else, stared, dumbstruck, at Mufasa. _What did he say!? _Mufasa smirked at their gaping faces. _If Sakura continues to go on like this, I may even appoint her the head of the Elemental Village when I retire. No need to voice that outl loud right now, until I think it is possible._ "Well, what is your answer?"

Sakura looked around at her family, and Sai. They were looking at her, waiting for her to answer. _I don't believe this. Did I really impress my father that much? This is something that I wanted to learn ever since I was little. _Sakura turned back to Mufasa. "Thank you. I would like that very much." Mufasa grunted. "Very well then. I will make sure you know how to do a proper fusion by the time you go back to Konoha." He went back inside. Everyone squealed and glomped Sakura, making her fall to the ground. Everyone except Sai and Sardon, that is. They just grinned. "Sakura, I'm so proud of you!" Screamed her mother. Sakura groaned. "Thanks, but will you get off of me now? I can't breath!"

Over the next five weeks both Sakura and Sai got training. Sakura's father taught Sakura everything he knew about molding chakra. Satire helped Sai learn how to show emotions without offending others. Everything was going well, and everyone was having fun. Yet, Sakura couldn't shake the feeling that whoever followed them here, was _still _there. She didn't know if it was an Anbu Black Ops, or someone else, since they never let themselves be seen. Sakura looked out of her window toward the woods. _Well, whoever it is, they sure don't know how to mask their chakra. I shouldn't worry about it too much, he or she hasn't threatened us in any way. Yet. But, what is this feeling I get? It's like I know this chakra signature._ Sakura's eyes widened. _I __**do **__know that signature. If it is who I think it is anyway. Why would he follow us here though?_

Sakura sighed and turned to her bed. She was too tired to even think about it. All that training was starting to take its toll on her. Tomorrow was her last day of being with her family. Before she could even get onto her bed, Satire came in. "Sorry to interrupt you but can I ask you something?" Sakura sighed. So much for a nice nap. "You just did." Satire scowled. "You don't have to be so sarcastic. I was just going to ask you if I could go to Konoha with you." Sakura woke up in an instant. "Go to Konoha with me? Whatever for, and what about your fiance?" She shrugged. "He's away for awile right now anyway. I would like to go with you because I want to learn more about these friends of yours, and possibly get some basic training done myself."

Sakura didn't know what to think. "Are you sure about this? What would the others think?" "They're okay with it. I asked them and they said that I need to get out of this village anyway. Sardon said he would contact me if my fiance came back. I just had to know if you were willing to go along with it." Sakura grinned. " I don't mind, but I have one condition." Satire frowned,confused. "What condition?" "That I be the one to train you, and no one else." "Heh, I would like that. Well, see you in the morning." "Goodnight." She left the room.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Sakura collapsed on the bed. She liked the idea of one of her family members coming to meet her friends. She wondered what they would think of her, and she them. Sakura scooted under the covers and rolled over, yawning. She had a lot on her mind, but still fell into a dreamless sleep. Her back was to the window, so she didn't notice a silhouette with red eyes standing on a tree branch. Watching her once again. Taking in everything he learned. He smirked. She had improved beyond what he thought possible. She even turned down an offer from his team.

He turned around and disappeared off through the trees. He had something he had to do at the moment. His team was waiting for him to tell them something to do. He grunted. Couldn't they do something on their own for once? Slowing his pace down a little, he looked around at his surroundings. He was in no hurry, for once. He would meet his teammates, then make his way back to Konoha secretly. There, he would wait for the other three to get there, and continue observing. He didn't know why but she was very interesting to watch. Ever since he caught a glimpse of her fighting that woman from the Akatsuki he couldn't stop. He grunted again. What was that painters name? Sai, was it? He seemed to be getting on his nerves a lot. "Hn. Whatever. He won't be around her or Naruto much longer anyway." He smirked again, thinking of what was to come. _Soon, Sakura, very soon, we will meet again. One way or the other._


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the wait!**

**I know I haven't done the disclaimer in awhile,**

**so here it is: I do not own Naruto. P.S. I like long reviews.**

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Chapter Twelve

The woods were silent, except for the chirping of crickets, and croaking of frogs. Everything was peaceful. It didn't last long however. The birds scattered as three blurs came dashing through the trees. One was black, one pink, and one silver. It was none other than Sai, Sakura,and Satire, respectively. They were on their way back to Konoha, or in Satire's case, going there for the first time. They had been traveling for two days, without stopping.

Sai looked over at Satire. She seemed to be lagging behind, and was panting quite hard. He looked ahead of him at Sakura. She didn't seem to notice her sister having trouble keeping up. He sighed and sped up a little, until he was running beside of her. "Hey hag?" Sakura glared at him. She didn't feel like arguing with his little jibe. "What do you want Sai?" "We've been going like this for two days. Don't you think we should stop and rest for awhile? Your sister is not exactly a ninja, and she's having some trouble keeping up." Sakura blinked and looked behind herself. Satire was indeed starting to fall behind. Sakura felt ashamed of herself for forgetting that her sister still needed more rest than either her, or Sai. She nodded and spoke aloud. "Alright, let's stop here. We've made pretty good progress anyway."

Satire looked up at hearing this. Sakura was standing on the ground, waiting for her to come down from the tree. _Finally! _She thought, hopping down herself. "Are you alright?" Sakura asked. Satire nodded. "Just a little tired that's all." Sai grunted. _A little tired my foot. _He went over to his bag and started digging out food supplies. "We're going to need some wood if we are going to make a fire." Sai said. "You're right. Come with me Satire." "Hai." They walked off into the woods, leaving Sai to assemble the tents.

The women were silent for awhile, trying to gather some decent firewood. Eventually Satire spoke. "What's it like?" Sakura turned to her, a pile of sticks in her arms. "What is what like?" Satire sat down. "Being a ninja, Konoha, your friends. Anything." Sakura thought for a minute. "Well, I suppose it will be alright to tell you now, but we can't keep Sai waiting for too long." She sat down beside of her. "Let's see. Being a ninja is different for everyone. Some people, like the Akatsuki for instance, only want power. They take over people's lives and destroy them, just to prove that they can do something. Others, like myself, train everyday so that they can help the people who are precious to them. We want to be aknowledged as more than a strong individual, and teammate. I suppose that's why it irks me to no end to be called weak. I'm sure there are others that feel that way also.

Satire stared at her. "How anyone can call you weak, after what I saw you accomplish with father, they must be out of their minds." She lowered her head, covering her eyes with her bangs. "Still...I would give anything to become as strong and caring as you one day." The breeze whipped by, blowing their hair around their faces. Sakura stared, wide eyed at her sister. Then she gave a soft smile. "I have faith in you. With a little hard work and training, I have no dout that you will fulfill that wish. Keep your mind set on that goal, and don't let it be tainted. That's what I did. Satire giggled. "I suppose you're right. Thank you Sakura." Sakura nodded.

After a little bit, she stood up. "It's getting dark. We better be heading back, before Sai sends one of his painted animals after us. I'll tell you about Konoha while we are eating." Satire grunted. "As if that emotionless psycho would care about where we were." She got up and followed Sakura anyway. Satire glanced sideways at her sister with a little smile on her face. _What I said earlier was true. I'm tired of being the only one who is not a ninja. One day Sakura, I'll show you, I can be just as good a ninja as you. I give my word._

When they got back to the clearing, they found that Sai had already set up two tents and had a pot ready to boil. "Everything is in place, but where is Sai?" Sakura asked, looking around. "I'm right here." They looked over at the tree where he hopped down from, dragging a dead tiger with him. Satire screamed. "What in the world are you thinking!? We have food in our bags that we can cook!" She ran over to the tiger and started crying. "You poor, poor animal. Did the mean man hurt you too much?" Sai blinked at her antics, and shrugged. "I wanted meat, and the tiger was already dead when I found it anyway." Satire glared at him. "Emotionless psycho." She mumbled. Sakura just sweatdropped. "Well, let's get our food ready."

After much talking and eating (Satire refusing the tiger), they finally went to bed. Sai started snoring immediately, while in the next tent, the girl's stayed awake. Sakura was about to fall asleep when she heard her name being called. "Sakura?" She looked over at Satire, who was lying beside of her. "Yes?" "All of your friends sound very interesting to me, however I can't help but notice that you never spoke of a boyfriend, or lover. Do you not have one?" Sakura winced at the thoughts of Sasuke that came to her head. How she wished that he hadn't left, that he could have stayed and grew closer to her. She sighed. No use thinking of the could have's. "It's a long story to explain Satire, and I'd rather not talk about it right now." She rolled over to her side. "It hurts too much." Satire looked at Sakura's back with lowered eyes. "Okay, I understand. I'm sorry about whatever happened. I'll just forget we ever had this conversation. Goodnight Sakura." She turned over and turned the lamp that was sitting beside of her off. There was darkness and silence.

The next day, at around ten in the morning, the three ninja's were going at full speed once more. Only this time, Sakura was carrying Satire on her back. "Sakura, you can put me down. I know I can't maintain speed with you two for very long just yet, but I think I can go from here." Sakura shook her head. "That's alright Satire, you're not very heavy, and besides we're almost there, so I'll let you off when we reach the gates." Satire sighed. "You and your super strength." "Hn, deal with it frilly. Ugly's stubborn when it comes to getting somewhere on time." Satire glared at him. "What did you call me you emotionless psycho?" Sakura laughed. "That's just Sai, and besides, you _do_ wear dresses a lot." She looked ahead. "Ah, finally, we're here." Satire's eyes widened at the humongous gates looming before her. Sakura grinned at her expression. "You think this is amazing, just wait till you get inside. Satire, welcome to Konoha."


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry for the wait! **

**I don't own Naruto.**

**I like reviews!**

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Chapter Thirteen

"You must be Satire, it's a pleasure to meet you." Tsunade was shaking Satire's sweaty palm. She had already been around Konoha, gaping at everything that came into sight, and dragging Sakura with her into the major places. Now she was standing in front of the Hokage, the head of the village, so she was pretty intimidated. She didn't want to be pounded into the ground by her super strength that she heard Tsunade had. Sai had already ran off somewhere, so he couldn't help her, but Sakura was still with her. Sakura put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. "Yes, this is my sister, the one I was telling you about before. She came here with me because she wanted to see where I've lived for the past few years, and she wants training to become a ninja." Tsunade just nodded, taking a sip of her sake, and scrutinized Satire from her head to her toes. "Hmm, once she gets some proper attire, and a few training tips here and there from a jounin, I'm sure she will make a splendid ninja." Satire blushed.

Later on that night, Sakura was sitting with her sister at Ichiraku. "I wonder who my trainer is going to be." Sakura sighed. "I don't know, I just don't get why Tsunade won't let me train you." Satire stopped midslurp on her ramen with a glassy look in her eyes, as if she was looking far away. "It doesn't matter to me. I'm just glad to be here." Sakura was about to reply back when she was interrupted by a shout. **"SAKURA CHAN YOU'RE BACK!" **Sakura looked back and giggled. "Well Satire, looks like you're about to meet the knucklehead." That was all she had time to say.

Satire stared as Sakura was glomped by a yellow and orange blur. _So this is the Naruto I've heard so much about. _She thought, as she got a better view of the hyperactive boy. He was kind of tall, but not as tall as some guys. He wore a very bright orange and black jumpsuit looking outfit. His blonde hair was spiked in every direction, covered with a headband, and his sky blue eyes looked mischievious as he looked at Sakura. He also had whisker like marks on his face. What stood out to Satire the most though, was his grin. It was so big it covered half his face and showed all of his teeth. How anyone could smile so huge, and talk at the same time was a mystery to her. _Overall, he's not a bad looking fellow. _She thought, watching him get hit over the head by a laughing Sakura. _I wish I had a friend like that._

Suddenly, she noticed a pair of sky blue eyes looking at her closely. "So, you're Satire, huh?" She nodded. "You must be Naruto. I've heard a lot about you and some other people." Naruto's eyes widened. "Really? Sakura's been talking about me? Ah, Sakura you do care!" Naruto anime cried. Sakura shook her head. "Of course you baka, you can't really think I'd not tell my own sister about my best friend." Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, can't forget me. The next Hokage. **BELIEVE IT!" **Satire laughed while Sakura just sweatdropped. _How can we forget you when you keep reminding us? Silly Naruto. What would we do without you?_

"Well, that was interesting." Satire said on their way to Sakura's house. Sakura groaned. "Oh, believe me, you'll get used to it...or not." Satire cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean, or not?" "Naruto never ceases to amaze me. Even after all these years." Satire thought about it for a minute. "True, he seems to have a one track mind doesn't he?" Sakura smiled. "Indeed, but that's not a bad thing. It's helped him get through a lot of obstacles." She thought about all the times they had gotten in tight spots, and Naruto always pulled through with just the thought of being Hokage. "It's ironic to say but, he's helped me grow up more than anyone else." Satire yawned. "I'd love to meet the rest of your friends, but I don't think I can right now. I'm bummed out." "Hai, let's get to bed."

Sakura had almost fallen asleep when she heard a tapping on her window. _Not another bird. I hope it doesn't wake Satire up._ She looked over at the gleaming silver hair lying on the makeshift bed on the other side of the room. Satire was snoring. Sakura got up and slowly opened the window. "Hello. Long time no see?" Sakura nearly screamed. It was no bird. It was her old sensei. "Kakashi-sensei what are you doing here?" Kakashi's eye crinkled. "I told you not to call me that anymore, it makes me feel old." Sakura smiled. "Sorry, old habits die hard, but get to the point. Why are you here?" He sighed and pulled out his dirty book. "Tsunade sent me here, to give you this message. Team 7 has a mission." Sakura's eyes widened. "For real? It's been so long." "Uh huh, but we leave tonight. You have one hour to get whatever you need, and inform your sister about where you're going. I'll meet you, Naruto, and Sai, at the gates, I'll tell you more about the mission then. Ja ne!" He poofed away, book still in hand.

Sakura hurried to get her sword and weapons. She was excited. It had been a long time since they had been on a mission together, even though they were missing a member. Sakura looked at Satire and started writing a letter.

**Dear Satire,**

**Don't panic when you see me gone. I've gone on a mission with my old team. I don't know when I'll be back, but don't worry. You better be learning how to be a ninja while I'm gone. Just go to Tsunade when you finish reading this. She'll know what to do. Hope you get to know Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, and the others. You'll like them. (I hope.) Whoever your trainer is I'm sure they will do a wonderful job. I'm sorry I couldn't see the beginning of your training. I'd have liked to laugh at you. Just kidding. You'll do fine, and don't worry about me. I go on dangerous missions all the time. It's part of what a ninja does for their village. See you again soon! I love you.**

**Sakura**

She read back over it and nodded. That should explain it. Looking at her clock, she hurriedly grabbed her knapsack and went to the window. She looked at Satire one last time. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Be safe." She stepped out onto the wall, holding on with chakra, and closed the window. Turning, she ran up the wall without using hands and hopped across the roofs toward the entrance gate. Once there, she saw Naruto and Sai already there, but no Kakashi in sight. "Don't tell me he's late again. He specifically told me one hour!" Naruto grumbled. "With him, it's more like _two _hours." "Now, now, Naruto. That's not nice." Naruto and the other two spun around. **"You're Late!" **Shouted Naruto, and Sakura. Sai just glared. Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Anyway. On to business. The ANBU says there has been sighting of some people wearing black cloaks with red clouds around the border of Sand." Sakura's eyes widened. "What? I thought they were down to one!" Kakashi nodded. "That's the trouble. This lone Akatsuki, as you say, may have already gathered more people. Powerful people, to group up with him. We don't know for sure. That's why we've been asked to go as a team once more. Together we should be able to wipe them out, once and for all." All three jounin nodded their heads solemnly. "Hai, and what about Gaara and the others?" Asked Sakura. "They'll be helping us out too."

With troubling thoughts in their heads, the quadron moved out. Disappeared into the trees at high speed. Hiding behind one of them was none other than Karin and Suigetsu, wearing fake Akatsuki cloaks. "Heh, this going according to plan." Suigetsu grinned. Karin glared at him. "No it's not. We have three extra people on our hands now. It was only supposed to be the girl." Suigetsu shrugged. "Who cares, at least we got her out, now all Sasuke has to do is lure her away from the others when the time is right. We should go inform him now." Karin grumbled. "Sasuke-kun's got you to blame, not me." Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "You're so obsessed with him." "So? He's mine!" "Really?" They left bickering all the way.

Sasuke stood, staring out of the cabin they were staying in. He'd heard the news about Team 7. His eyes furrowed. It seemed almost nostalgic. Except now he had three annoyances on his hands. How was he going to do this? His weird clone-replacement shouldn't be a problem, and Naruto still seemed as dumb as ever. It was Kakashi he was having trouble with. Sure, he'd ordered his three teammates to hurry to the outskirts of the Sand village, but that wouldn't help matters. Gaara and other Sand residents would be after them too. Hn, whatever. He'd deal with Kakashi and his stupid book somehow. Sasuke straightened. Book. He smirked. Seems he found a way to distract him. He sat down. There was no need to rush now. It would be several hours before anyone got to the village. He had super speed so he could get there within thirty minutes. He then scowled at the thoughts of Itachi coming into his head. He wasn't dead yet. The only real Akatsuki left, and he would be no more once Sasuke got his hands on him. _I just need Sakura first. She can help heal any wounds better than Karin can. She could be a good asset to the team to. Funny how things change. She's interested me. Perhaps..... _He pushed away any thoughts of having a family out of his head. No good now. He still had a traitor to kill.


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm back! Thanks for the reviews!**

**Do I really have to do the disclaimer?**

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Chapter Fourteen

The new team 7 was nearing the Sand village. "I don't see anyone just yet, but we should be getting close." Kakashi exclaimed. Naruto looked determined. "Alright! I'll beat these Akatsuki freaks once and for all. **Believe it!"** He punched the air. Sakura punched his head. "Baka!" She whispered. "We're the one's going to be beaten if you don't keep it down." Naruto scrunched his face up and pouted. "I don't care. Let them come." Sai just stared at him. Kakashi looked behind him. "Keep it down you three, and stay on your toes. I sense some chakra up ahead."

They all fell silent as three figures came into view ahead of them. Their hoods were covering their faces, but the red clouds were unmistakable. Sai looked at the figures suspiciously. Something wasn't right. Why would they just stand on the borders of a village waiting to be attacked? The mismatched team stopped in front of them. "Well, this is a surprise. I didn't know Akatsuki members were dumb enough to stand out in the open, letting themselves be caught." Smirked Kakashi. Naruto laughed at them. The tallest of the three stepped forward. "Laugh while you can boy, because you won't be laughing after we're finished with you." Naruto glared. "Oh yeah?! We'll see about that!" He ran toward the man, hand outstretched in a fist. Before he could hit the guy however, Naruto was knocked back by a fast blow to the head with a fist the size of a watermelon. Naruto fell to the ground. "I like dancing pandas." He garbled, before fainting.

Sakura gasped and ran toward him. Kakashi and Sai just stood there, dumbfounded. _So fast. _They thought. _Naruto isn't one to pass out after just one punch. There must have been some kind of poison in his fist. _The next tallest guy laughed. "That'll teach you to mess with us!" Kakashi glared. "What is it that you want?" The last one spoke. It sounded like a woman. "What we want is none of your business. We've come to get what we want and leave before the sand brats get here. Don't need anymore trouble than we already have. Isn't that right sonny boy?" She directed the question toward Sai. Said boy glared as much as he could and sent some of his painted anumals toward them. Sai too was knocked out before he could do any damage. Kakashi and Sakura were the only one's left standing. _This isn't looking good. _Kakashi thought.

The figures laughed again. "Is that all you've got? Some kind of ninja's you are." The medium sized guy yawned. "You guys are too easy. I think I'll just stand here and read this book. The ending of it is very interesting." He peeked at Kakashi from under his hood. Kakashi's lone eye widened. It was Icha Icha Paradise! Kakashi covered his ears and closed his eyes as the man started to talk out loud. He didn't want the story spoiled! The tallest guy, seeing his chance, ran behind the closet pervert and knocked him out just like the others. Things were looking bleak for team 7.

Leaving the two in a heap they turned toward Sakura and an unconscious Naruto. She was glaring at them. "What do you want with us?" "We don't want all of you, we just want _you, _Sakura." The shortest guy said. Her glare got even more pronounced. "What do you want with me? Who are you people!?"

Sakura suddenly felt someone rush up behind her. "Isn't it obvious Sakura? I want you." He whispered in her ear. Sakura's eyes widened. "Sasuke." She got a glimpse of the figures faces when they removed their hoods. Before she could do anything else she felt a sickeningly familiar hit on the back of her neck and fainted. Sasuke gathered her in his arms. "Let's go." Team Hawk disappeared into thin air leaving three unconscious ninja's where they lay.

About two minutes later, Gaara ran up to them, with Temari and Kankuro close behind. "We're too late." Temari gasped. Looking around at the boys Kankuro narrowed his eyes. "Where's Sakura?" They looked around. Sakura was nowhere in sight. "I know she came with them so the Akatsuki must have taken her." Temari exclaimed shakily. She was about to cry. Gaara was kneeling by Naruto. He didn't say anything but his fists were clenched and sand was rolling around in his gourd. He was furious. They had knocked out one of his best friends and taken another. His glare deepened. If anything should happen to Sakura... Oh, just wait until he got his hands on them. They would be begging for mercy, and he wouldn't give it to them.

After examining Naruto to make sure he would recover, Gaara turned toward his older siblings. They were also examining the red marks on the other two's necks. "Drat it!" Kankuro yelled, exasperated. "Where is that medic nin when you need her? I can't figure this out. Temari nodded. "It must be some kind of poison. If only the other girl's were here. Ino would know what to do. She's also a medic nin. Gaara closed his black rimmed eyes and sighed. "Even if they were here, there is nothing they, or we, could do. It may take us ages to find out where they could have taken Sakura. Believe me though," he said, looking around at his siblings anxious faces. "When I find them. They will pay."


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry for the long wait!**

**Here's chapter fifteen.**

**Do I have to do the disclaimer?**

**Ugh, this chapter was hard to write. It took me forever to do, 'cause I kept starting and stopping.**

**Sorry if it's a boring chapter!**

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Chapter Fifteen

In an abandoned building far away from the Sand village, a pink haired kunoichi was becoming conscious. Sakura's eyes slowly opened. There was a wooden ceiling above her. She blinked and sat up. A room came into her view. _How did I get here?_ Sakura thought. There was a small window behind her that she looked out of. Everywhere she looked there was trees and shrubs. Apparently she was in the middle of a forest. Suddenly there was a powerful chakra signature behind her. "You're finally awake." Sakura stiffened. That voice and that chakra was all too familiar to her. She turned around slowly and came face to face with the person who had haunted her dreams for the past several years.

Sasuke hadn't changed much. That bluish black hair still stuck up like a chicken's butt in the back. He had let it grow out a little longer though. His bangs were still over his eyes and remained the same. His onyx eyes still remained expressionless, but she knew that would change when he activated his sharingan. The only thing that had really changed was that he looked more like a man now rather than a boy. He was a head taller than her now, and his cheekbones were more defined. There was no more baby fat. He still wore the Sound outfit which showed off his chest and abs. She almost had a hard time tearing her eyes away from that sight. If possible, he had grown hotter than ever. She had no idea if his attitude had changed however.

The object of her interest also took this time to examine Sakura. He knew she had grown up from what he saw of her at a distance. Close up like this however, he saw a whole lot more. She had grown her silky pink hair out a little, to where it was layered and her bangs hung over her eyes in a choppy way. Those forest green eyes were no longer kind of dull. They held a spark in them that they didn't have before. She had grown taller, but was not as tall as him anymore. Her childish looks, and beanpole stature were gone. To be replaced by soft womanly curves. He just hoped her childish attitude was gone too. The outfit she wore just defined those curves even more. She wore a black tank top with a bandage covering her right arm. Capri like black and red tights embraced her long, lean legs. She wore knee length, two inch heeled black boots, instead of the traditional ninja sandals. All in all, she had grown up well.

As they stood there, staring at each other, Sakura recalled all that had happened. From the fake Akatsuki's to Sasuke knocking her out once again, saying that he "wanted her." She heard a shuffling at the door and directed her attention toward it. Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo were standing there staring at them. Sakura remembered when they came to Konoha and tried to get her to join them. Looks like they almost succeeded this time. _Almost._ She wasn't planning on giving in anytime soon. If her heart would just stop beating a mile a minute. Sakura put on a blank face not letting any of her feelings show. Finally Suigetsu broke the silence. "Heh, I see you're finally awake pinky. Now we can get down to business." "Not yet we can't." Karin said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I want to know why Sasuke-kun brought this pink haired smart-alek along. What good will she do?" "Aw, shut up Karin. You know why she's here." Remarked Suigetsu.

Sasuke had his eyes closed, and so did Jugo. These two must go at it a lot. "Actually, I want to know that myself." Sakura spoke up. "Why are you going through so much trouble to try to get me to accompany you?" "Hey! I asked him first!" Karin screeched. Sasuke sighed and looked at Sakura. "Karin, go make sure there's no one about to attack." He said without looking at her. Karin pouted but left anyway, shoving Suigetsu out of her way. Once she was gone Jugo shut the door and locked it. "She'll be worse than me if she hears this." He said. Suigetsu nodded. "I can just picture it." He shuddered. Sakura cleared her throat. "Well, why am I here?"

"I'm sure you know that Itachi is not dead yet." Sasuke exlaimed with a scowl on his face. "I heard that you had become one of the best medic nin in Konoha under the training of Tsunade. Is that true?" Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" "Are you capable of poisoning anyone when it is necessary?" Sakura smirked. "Do you really want to know that?" Suigetsu laughed. "Better watch what we drink then eh?" "It's not just drinks, I can use certain tools to do it with too." Sakura said walking slowly towards him. "Do you want a demonstration?" Suigetsu started sweating. "No thank you, I'm fine." Sasuke smirked. It seems she grew a little more brazen over the years. Out loud he said, "You can demonstrate all you want when the time comes, but now is not the time. We just need you to come with us for now, while we gather more information."

Sakura laughed. "What makes you think I'll come easily chicken butt of oh so many words. What changed? Did someone fill your brain with the proper speech or something?" Sasuke glared. Neither one of them had a chance to say anything else. Jugo was acting up. "You invade privacy, I kill you! I'll start with the lady first." Sakura saw a mark on his neck spreading as he walked towards her, a wild look in his eyes. It seemed that the curse mark affected him worse than Sasuke. Both boys tried to stop him but Sakura raised her hand. "No, don't. Let me handle this." Suigetsu stepped back while Sasuke glared at her. "You're crazy. If you think you can stop Jugo from killing anyone you're wrong. You are too weak to do that."

Something inside of Sakura snapped at those words. He still thought she was weak after all that she had accomplished? She didn't think so. With a determined look on her face and a glare towards Sasuke she poofed right behind of Jugo, who was now looking around with confusion. Quickly doing some hand signs, she performed a much more powerful sealing jutsu than Kakashi had done on Sasuke a long time ago. Closing her eyes she placed her right palm over his mark. Jugo didn't even scream as green and blue chakra flowed into the mark on his neck. In fact, he looked almost peaceful. Sakura backed up, panting. She was finished. That jutsu tended to drain her of chakra fast. Despite her fatigue however, she thought she had done a good job. Jugo was now calm, and looking in mild surprise at his now mark free neck in a mirror. She looked at the other two. Suigetsu was full out gaping at her. Sasuke didn't have an expression on his face but he was looking intently at the spot where Jugo's curse mark used to be.

"I never knew you could get rid of curse marks." Suigetsu said incredulously. Sakura faintly smiled. "Jugo should be himself from now on. It took me years to find and master that jutsu. It's a jutsu very few people can perform, and it is not without its consequences." Sasuke's eyes shifted to her and Jugo looked guilty at these words. "I'm sorry for this." Jugo said with his head down. Sakura shook her head. "It was my choice." She was out of breath. "What exactly happens when you do that jutsu?" Suigetsu asked. Sakura laughed and looked at Sasuke. "Take a wild guess." Sasuke was staring right back at her. She looked like she was drained of chakra. Short pants came out of her mouth and she looked to be in pain. That picture brought back a sense of deja vu. Jugo's head went even lower. "I know what's wrong." Sakura turned her head to him. "I'm sure you would, but like I said before, it was my choice.

Sasuke suddenly figured out what was going on. "You brought his pain into you didn't you?" He said angrily. Sakura just nodded her head. "Why should you care though? It's not like I mean anything to you." Sasuke opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. He couldn't have said anything even if he wanted to. Karin came in the window just as Sakura fainted. Sasuke caught her right before she hit the floor. Karin was gaping. "What happened in here? Is she dead?" Karin asked a little hopeful. Suigetsu glared at her. "No, she is not dead. Just wore out." Karin's face drooped. _Rats, and why is my Sasuke-kun holding that girl? She better not have done anything to him or I'll kill her myself! _Sasuke ignored everyone and carried Sakura over to the bed. Perhaps he was wrong. She had gotten stronger. There was still something he needed to do before he was positive however. He was kind of looking forward to it. For now she needed rest. It had been a tiring day for her. Being kidnapped and getting rid of a curse mark. Sasuke's eyes softened. She took the pain of a curse mark better than he did. Then again, it was probably nullified.

Turning he addressed team Hawk. "We should go to bed. Let her rest for now. Tomorrow we will start after I give her a test." They looked confused. "What kind of test?" Jugo asked. "You'll find out tomorrow. All I'm saying right now is that it is to see if she is capable of coming with us." Karin hmphed and left, the other three following after her, shutting the door behind them. Sakura rolled over, her hand tightening over the pillow. "Sasuke-kun, don't leave." She whispered in her sleep.

The next morning Sakura jerked up from the bed. She knew where she was instantly this time. She felt around her body with chakra. There was no more pain. Her dragon tattoo was throbbing just a little. That meant her chakra was up to full power again. All elements. Yesterday she had been so drained that she felt deflated. Getting up she went out into a little hallway. She could hear woices to the left of her. Going that way she ended up in a living room. Karin and Suigetsu were bickering about something, and Jugo was sitting by a window. Sasuke was nowhere to be found. Passing the two who fought like an old couple, she went over to Jugo. "Are you feeling better?" She asked. Jugo came out of his trance and looked at her. "Yes, are feeling better now?" He asked with a concerned look on his face. Sakura smiled and nodded. "Where's Sasuke?" "He went out looking for something." "I'm right here." Sasuke said walking in the door. "Are you feeling any better?" Sakura slowly nodded. "Good, then we can proceed with your test."

Sakura was confused. "What test?" Sasuke smirked. "I found a field large enough that we can fight in. I want to see how you've improved. This will determine if you are capable of doing what we want you to." Sakura gaped. _Me? Fight with Sasuke? Well, this will be interesting. _Sakura smirked as well. "Very well then Uchiha. Prepare to be burnt to ashes from a dragon. Still could we get this over with quickly. I have a sister waiting for me back in Konoha." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. _Sister? I never knew she had a sister. Looks like there is a lot I don't know about her, and what does she mean by being burnt by a dragon? _Sakura saw the confused look on his face. "You saw my fight with Konan a while back didn't you? Then you should know what I am talking about. As for my sister, her name is Satire. I only saw her again two years ago so you wouldn't know her."

Sasuke recalled her fight with the blue haired woman and remembered that Sakura had changed. He looked at her bandaged arm. It seemed like her transformation came from something on her arm. How she got it he didn't know. "Hn, we'll see if you can or not." "Let's go then." Sakura said walking past him. Sasuke followed right behind her. Jugo and Suigetsu looked at each other while Karin seethed. "Come on you two. I'm not letting anything happen to my Sasuke-kun." She said stomping out after them. The guys sweatdropped. "She won't stop calling him 'my Sasuke-kun' will she?" Jugo asked. Suigetsu shook his head. "She's just jealous that pinky looks better than her, and that they knew each other. We better go. I want to see how pinky fares in this fight. You can hold off Karin if she gets too riled up." He grinned, walking out. Jugo sighed. He hated dealing with a jealous Karin. He followed after the others, waiting to see what this fight would bring.


	16. Chapter 16

**I am so, so, so sorry! I've had so much to do these past few weeks**

**I haven't had a chance to write anything! If you all are mad at me**

**I understand. I don't own Naruto. Please forgive me!**

**By the way, here's your fight scene Cocoa eyed kitty118! Thanks for**

**updating everyone! = )**

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Chapter Sixteen

As Sakura and the others headed towards the field an anxious Satire waited by Konoha's gates. She heard tell that the others were coming back. Oh, she couldn't wait to show Sakura her new skills! Satire started jumping up and down when the gate watchers opened the gates. She ran to the people coming in, but her face fell. It was Naruto and the other two, but they were unconsious. Sakura was nowhere to be found. Instead, there were three very sad and tired looking people carrying them. Satire didn't know what to do. She stood frozen until Tsunade walked up to greet them with a grave face. "Hello Gaara, Temari, Kankuro. Thank you for bringing them back." Gaara just nodded, holding Naruto in his arms. "It's the least we could do after being too late to help them." Temari timidly let out. "I'll try and help them as much as I can. Follow me to the hospital." Tsunade said, turning to lead the way. As they walked past Satire, she got angry. How dare they ignore her when her sister could be in danger! She stomped after them and shouted. "Hey! Don't just walk on by me as if I were a wall! Where is my sister?!" She heard Tsunade sigh and stop, but she sidn't say anything. "Where is Sakura?!" She shouted again. The other three looked back at her with some surprise. "Are you Satire?" Temari asked, looking her up and down. Satire nodded, a defiant look in her eyes. "Well, sorry, you just don't look nothing like her." Kankuro spoke up. "I don't care about any of that. I just want somebody to tell me where my sister is!" Tsunade turned to look at her. "I'm just as upset as you are. I wish I knew where she was but I don't. All I do know is that the Akatsuki knocked these three out and ran off with her. We're sending a search team out for her as soon as I get these to the hospital. The least we can do is hope that she is still alive." Tsunade lowered her head. Satire started shaking. She balled her fists after looking at the forlorn faces. "That's not good enough." She whispered before running off like a bat out of hell.

_This place really is big. _Thought Sakura looking around at the yard's of space they had. There wasn't a tree or bush in sight. _Good, at least it's wide enough to actually do some fighting in. If it was small there would be no room for the big jutsu I have planned. _Sakura started preparing herself. Meanwhile, Sasuke stood ten yards away from her trying to ignore his "teammates'" babbling. "Remember Sasuke, you can do anything-there's no way she can beat _my_ Sasuke..." Said person didn't hear anymore as his eyes caught sight of Sakura's figure. From her expression, it looked like she was concentrating very intensely on something. She had taken off her overshirt revealing a black tank top and a mesh t-shirt under that. A sword hung from her back. He noticed that she had taken off her bandages revealing a black dragon tattoo on her arm. Her black shorts had the Haruno symbol on the side with a red dragon running out from it. Knee length black boots adorned the rest of her legs and feet. Looking closer he found that she wasn't as spaghetti armed, or legged, as she was back in genin days. She had developed some muscles. Some curves too. His eyes caught hers staring at him. "Are you just gonna stand there admiring me all day, or can we start?" "Hn." She glared. He smirked. Hopefully, this would turn out to be an interesting fight. She just had to give it all she had.

There was silence as the two old teammates stood in defensive, and offensive, position waiting for one or the other to make a move. Sasuke suddenly started running at her full speed. Sakura smirked. "Aren't you the one who said frontal attacks would never work?" He just pulled out a kunai. "Oh well, guess I have no choice." Sakura quickly spread chakra to her hand and curled it in a fist. As he was getting nearer she bent down and punched the ground with all her might. If someone were standing ten miles off they would feel the ground tremble as if they were in an earthquake. Indeed the ground did split in half, with dirt and dust flying all in the air. When it finally cleared Sasuke could not find Sakura anywhere. _I see she finally figured out how to use that chakra control. What else has she learned to do with it? _Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo were gaping at her strength, and trying to stay afoot.

While he was looking around Sakura was crouching behind the gaping spectators, not making a sound or movement. Her chakra was masked. _I'm surprised he hasn't activated his sharingan yet. If he does however, I will be found in an instant and I need time for this jutsu to work._ She was quietly filling the bottom of the cavern she had just made with water. There was no need for her to send lightning, he could provide that himself. Now, if she could just get him to use his chidori nagashi. His own power would be his downfall. Sakura giggled quietly to herself. Cavern filled she ran full speed behind Sasuke attempting to trip him with a spinning kick low on the ground. He realized she was there just in time to jump out of the way. "Is that the best you can do? Hmph. No more playing nice." Sasuke finally activated his sharingan. Then he disappeared. _So fast!_ Thought Sakura before finding her back against the ground and Sasuke on top of her. She met his eyes and blushed a little. He was so close. Still, he knew how to ruin the mood in an instant. "Looks like I win." Sakura growled and got into a position to kick him off. Standing up she yelled. "I don't think so! No one has won this fight yet. I'm nowhere close to being finished, I'm just getting started!" He just stared at her. "What are you waiting for Uchiha? Let's finish this, and remember..." She smiled evilly. "No more playing nice."

Sasuke stood there asserting about what to do next. When they were younger her weakness was always taijutsu. She probably didn't know how to use a weapon either. Holding this detail in his mind he started running toward her once again. Sakura, having an idea of what he was going to do next ran to him subtilely moving chakra towards her hand. They soon collided in a clash of wills. Blocking each others punches, succeeding in hitting, spinning ground kicks, uppercuts, and the like. To the audience, all they saw was a big blur, and heard a bunch of grunts and pants. Sasuke, getting frustrated, pulled out his katana and tried fighting her that way. He was blocked yet again by her own sword clanging against his. He growled after this had went on for some time. _When did she learn to fight like this?! I have no choice. _He sent his chidori up his blade. Sakura laughed in triumph. He was close enough to the precipice of her cavern. Sending her own powerful element up her blade she heard him inaudibly gasp. Her sword was on fire! Just the way she wanted it. Taking advantage of his momentary surprise she pushed his sword hard enough to make him tumble back into the black depth. Behind her, she heard Karin scream.

She called up her water around him but for some odd reason it wouldn't touch him. It was like he was in a bubble with lightning and water raging all around him. He looked at her and easily hopped back up to solid ground. "You must be stupid to think something like that will catch me off guard. I knew from the instant you disappeared that you had something like that in mind. So I created a barrier around me to block anything off once I went in there." Sakura hissed. "Shut up!" She balled her fists up and glared at the ground. _So he knew. He knew all along that my plan was going to backfire. That arrogant man! Even now he still thinks he is all high and mighty!_ She sighed. _Just the same, this fight isn't over yet._

Over by the other three Karin let out a breath. Sasuke was okay! Suigetsu looked at her from the corner of his eye. At least she hadn't tried to interfere yet. He looked over at Jugo. He was standing there with his hands clasped together and an anxious look on his face. Apparently he didn't want either one of them to get hurt. Suigetsu placed his hands on his hips. He for one, was enjoying this fight. Pinky turned out to be a little spit fire. He liked that. What was going to spark out of her next however, he didn't know. He just hoped it didn't burn Sasuke too much.

Sasuke and Sakura were fighting again. Sasuke sent a fireball towards Sakura while she blocked it with a wooden earth barrier. Once the wood burnt to a crisp she blew a big hurricane like gale his way. Sasuke had no choice but to block it with his arms and try to stay on his feet until it stopped. Able to look again he found that Sakura had, yet again, disappeared. In the next second he found himself body deep in the earth with just his head sticking out. Sakura laughed. "You remember that don't you, Sasuke-_kun_?" Sasuke glared. Last time he was like this Sakura had fainted, not laughed. Then again, she didn't set it on him last time either. He freed himself from the earth and recalled one of the jutsu's Orochimaru had taught him. He winced just thinking about it but this could come in handy. Raising his arms he let loose about a dozen snakes from his sleeves. All of them rolled and entertwined as they shot towards Sakura, intent on squeezing her arms and legs together so she couldn't move. Sakura shuddered but regained composure. "You're not the only one with a trick up your sleeves." Doing some hand signals she called forth her chakra dragons from her body. There was five in all. One representing each of her chakra elements. They flew towards the snakes and gobbled them up in five seconds. Sasuke's eyes widened for a fraction of a second but Sakura caught it. "Sorry, but my chakra gets hungry ever now and then so I have to feed it." She cocked her her head and grinned as the dragons flew right back into her.

Sasuke was getting irate. Almost anything he sent toward her was counterattacked with some jutsu or the other. He already knew she had developed more elemental chakra than the norm, but dang this was getting annoying. No surprise there. She was always annoying. Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed. "You're still as annoying and weak as you were five years ago." Sakura's eyes widened. The place was silent with only the wind blowing their hair. Sakura felt something bubbling inside of her. It felt like it was spreading all over her body, making her tingle. It was like a raging fire, trying its best to break free from it's cage. Sakura's chakra was reacting to her fury. She had only been angry like this one other time. That was when Konan almost destroyed her life. This man in front of her was going to destroy her one day. Sakura balled her fists as her arm started burning and her hair started lifting up with chakra waves. "I know I'm not exactly up to your standards but this is going a bit too far! Uchiha! I'll show you just what I am, and what I can do!" Sasuke opened his eyes, not expecting this tirade. What he saw happen before him really did make his eyes widen.

Sakura's hair was blowing up toward the sky from the force of the rainbow of chakra flowing around her. Her face held such an expression of fury that rivaled his own when he thought about Itachi. Her arm, namely the tattoo on her arm, had turned a brilliant glowing red. It suddenly spread all over her body. He saw her hair grow longer, a tint of red streaking along it. Her skin turned a light pink, and her fingernails turned spiky, like claws. Was that smoke starting to come out of her nose? What astonished him the most was the black, spiked tail and the ebony, batlike wings that sprouted from her back. Sasuke thought this was the workings of a curse mark. Looking closer however, he could make out the markings of the Haruno symbol on her forehead. This was no curse mark. She had somehow controlled her chakra to turn her into the dragon she had now become. It was a very difficult, but admiring feat. For him at least. She had mastered her own kekkai genkai. Nobody else could do that as easily. _So this is what she can do with her chakra control. She even improved her eyesight along with everything else. _He could now see her yellowish green, slanted pupiled eyes.

The two guys gasped while Karin screamed. "What the heck are you?! Some mutant lizard or something?!" Sakura turned her head slowly towards Karin. Opened her widespread wings and flew straight at her. Karin froze while Sakura stopped behind her and breathed in her ear. "Mutant lizard? No. I'm merely a ninja like you. I just have a few...ah...advantages over you." She showed her her claws and fangs. "You see, I could rip your throught to shreds for that comment, especially in the mood I'm in right now. However, I think I will just play with you a little bit." She flew back to her spot. "Oh, and by the way, I prefer dragon if you don't mind. That's much better than _mutant lizard_."

Sakura waited until Karin closed her eyes and looked away, Suigetsu burst out laughing, Jugo sighed, and Sasuke faintly smiled before casting her fifth level genjutsu on them. With all of them having their eyes closed they would have a hard time figuring out where she had gotten to. That's exactly what happened. Everything looked the same but they still looked around in confusion. In just a split second Sakura had disappeared. Suigetsu kept turning his head. "Where did she go? She didn't run off did she? Or is she about to attack us?" He looked quickly behind his back. Sasuke just stood there glaring suspiciously at everything. Sakura wanted to see who could figure it out first so she spoke up._ I am everywhere. I get this craving to be in five different places at once. It gives me a view of quite a bit more stuff going on around me. _Karin had fainted, Suigetsu trying to catch her. Jugo was standing there solitary with an almost frightened look on his face. Only Sasuke had the wits about him to form handsigns. Figures, of course he would be the first one to see this for what it was. He was the one that said "look underneath the underneath" all the time. She grinned. It seemed like he was having a hard time canceling her jutsu. "Sakura, I don't know what you are doing or where you are at right now, but I suggest you get rid of this illusion right now." Sasuke said menacingly. Sakura just laughed. _I thought you of all people would be able to cancel my fifth level genjutsu. You should know by now that's my strength. _Sasuke glared. "Fifth level genjutsu? I know you were good at illusions but I didn't know you were capable of that high of a level. That's practically a forbidden jutsu."

"Is that so shocking after what you've just seen me do now Uchiha? Or do you still think me weak?" Sasuke whirled around. She had canceled it while he was talking and was standing before him, wings folded behind her back. "That's enough playing now Sakura." The look she gave him after that sentence was so intense he almost didn't recognize her. "I was never playing Sasuke. You do realize that what I just did was on the same level as Itachi's illusions right?" Sasuke growled. "Don't talk about that man to me." Sakura cocked her head. "Why? Is it because you realize that if you can't cancel my genjutsu you can't stand a chance against Itachi's?" Sasuke was now standing in front of her. His eyes held anger. "That has nothing to do with it!" Sakura glared. "Really? Then why is it that whenever I mention that you are weaker than him you go off the deep end?!" Sasuke's breathing quickened as he clenched his fists. "You are trying my patience." He said this so calm and so menacingly he didn't have to yell. Yet, even though he sounded like he could kill her, Sakura wasn't afraid. Instead, she felt like she had accomplished something in making Sasuke mad at her. He was always so emotionless. Sakura decided to try it one more time. "I still think Naruto has a better chance at beating Itachi than you. You couldn't beat Naruto!" Sasuke ran away from her so fast he almost blended in with the foliage. Ten feet away from her he stopped with a furious look in his eyes. "You will wish you never said that."

Sasuke's curse mark started to spread over his body, but it didn't stop there. Sakura watched, astonished, as he went straight into second level curse mode. His black vest shirt was torn off as his skin turned a blackish gray. His hair grew spikes long enough to reach midback. Claws grew from his fingers and a cross like figure appeared over his nose. Wings shaped like clawed hands sprouted from his back. His sharingan was turned on as he glared at her. She had never seen this mode before and it almost frightened her. She didn't know what he was. He almost looked like a falcon.

Suigetsu and Jugo's eyes were round and white, and their mouths were hanging open. It wasn't often that someone could make Sasuke this angry. That woman must have something special because even they couldn't anger him that much.

"I say you better run now, because those two aren't going to save you. I'm more special than you." Sakura raised an eyebrow at this. "You are not more special than anyone else, let alone me. You think no one can understand your feelings." Sasuke laughed. "They can't." Sakura glared at him. _If only he knew._ She spread her wings out preparing to fly. "I resent that." She flew toward him while he in turn started spinning to her. She flew to the side of him and attempted to kick him out of the air. He caught her foot though and sent her spinning toward the trees in the far off distance. Sakura righted herself before she could get dizzy. Landing in a crouch with her back toward Sasuke she turned her head to look at him. He was floating in midair waiting for her to attack. She flew back up to face him in midair as well. "This has gone on long enough. It nears twilight." She said glimpsing the sky behind him. "You're right." Sasuke said glancing at the sky himself. "Let's finish this." Sakura heard the sound of a thousand birds as Sasuke charged up his black chidori. _I never thought I'd see the day when he would use chidori against me. At least I have my own attack in store._ She thought back to the time her father had taught her to mold her chakra elements together. _Thank you father. I knew this would come in handy some day._

Sakura sent all her elemental chakra to her hand carefully entertwining it. As it got bigger it shone from her hand as a ball full of colors. Soon it was as big as a double rasengan with it's own special sound. Sakura smiled as she thought back to what her father said. _Each and every one of us Haruno's has a rainbow ball inside of us. Once it is released it gives off its own melody signifying who we are, and what animal we become. In my case it is the purring of a lion who has been in many victories and is calming down to rest. What I have gathered from your meager attempts to release your rainbow, it sounds like a dragon roaring in agony and pain. Yet, it sees many mighty things happening in the future so it never gives up. A sad, but strong ball of color indeed. Exactly like you are. _Back in the present, Sakura held her roaring dragon ball in front of her as she got ready to blast it in Sasuke's face.

Sasuke, on the other side of the field, was almost wincing in agony at the sound coming from the ball in Sakura's hand. It sounded too upsetting. Shaking himself he held chidori out in front of him ready to run it through her. There was silence, except for the sound of their weapons, as they stared at each other. Then, simultaneously, they rushed at each other. The heat from each other's chakra was overpowering as they got closer. They were four feet apart now and yelling. Two feet apart. Right before they were about to connect their eyes met. Sakura seeing onyx eyes and Sasuke seeing emerald. Then their jutsus connected causing a big wave of chakra to erupt with a thousand different colors on one side and a blackish purple cloud on the other. As the pain started in on them they couldn't maintain their chakra anymore. One by one they let loose of their hold on the other. One by one they changed back to their original forms. One by one they fell to the ground in a broken, bruised, and bloody heap. They were unconsious and did not notice Jugo and Suigetsu running toward them, or their hands entertwined together.


	17. Chapter 17

**I've decided to continue this story. Reading your responses has**

**helped me find the motivation I need to continue. Thanks!**

**After all this time, I still don't own Naruto.**

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Seventeen

Satire sat beside of Naruto's bed in the hospital, hoping that, when he awoke, he could tell her something different from what Tsunade said. She had ran off after hearing her say it was almost hopeless and brooded on a rooftop. Staying there forever had seemed like a pretty good idea to her at the time. However, her natural curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had to go see someone. That's why she was dozing off beside of Naruto. She wasn't just worried about her sister, she hoped Naruto and the others would be alright too. They were Sakura's friends afterall. After a few minutes Satire heard the door open. Thinking it was Tsunade come to check on Naruto she stood up. It wasn't Naruto however, it was the last four people she expected to see. "Mom, dad, Sardon, Sakon?!" "What are you all doing here?" Her father looked angry and sad at the same time. "We heard what happened from one of Tsunade's slugs. We came to see if we could help get my daughter back somehow." Satire's eyes filled with tears as she ran to hug him.

There were whispers. Quiet sounds. He thought he could make out "my...", and "wake up". Wait? Was the sound getting louder? Yes. Somebody was yelling, but why? Was he dead? No, he felt too much pain. Where was he then, and how did he get here? He cracked his eyes open. There were colors, and shapes. Movement. Were these people the one's yelling? He saw oranges, reds, and whites. A bunch of other colors too. He grunted and the yelling stopped. What sounded like a girl called his name. Sasuke. Was that his name? It must be. He remembered a fight, a bittersweet sound, and a lot of pink and green. It reminded him of a sakura tree. Wait? Sakura? He was fighting with Sakura. He looked around. No pink or green. Where was she? His vision got clearer as he looked around. He found that an incessant noise was coming from the red haired woman with glasses. What did she want? She was killing his ears. His vision cleared all the way and he could see three people around him. It was team hawk. They were staring at him in relief. Grunting once again he tried to sit up but couldn't because of the pain in his side. He felt a bandage there. Looking up at the other three he said only one thing. "Where's Sakura?"

Karin said "who cares" while Suigetsu and Jugo looked at each other. Jugo helped Sasuke sit up while Suigetsu hesitantly handed him a note. Sasuke looked at it suspiciously. He didn't want to see what it said but he took it anyway. After reading it he had a glare on his face. Shoving the covers off of himself he tried to stand up. Karin tried to catch him as he stumbled but he shoved her off. Guiding himself along the wall to Sakura's room he opened the door. Sure enough, the bed was empty. No weapon pack was in sight. Sasuke clenched the note tightly in his fist and let it fall to the floor. His bangs fell over his eyes as he stared at the ground,and felt of his neck. He knew that the other three were watching him but he didn't care. Somehow, he realized how Sakura felt when he left. It was the way he was feeling now. He bent down to the letter and unwrinkled it so he could read it again.

**Sasuke,**

**By the time you read this letter I will be long gone. I have people who need me. You have improved yourself, but I feel that you still hold back toward the end. Your side has been damaged by my chakra ball so it will take some time to heal. I did heal the worst of it once I awoke and healed myself. You will still feel some pain, but not as bad as it would have been before I fixed it. Just be grateful that I didn't hit a vital organ. I will not leave you empty handed as you did to me. I have learned that Itachi's greatest weakness is his eyes. If he uses the Mangekyo sharingan too much it will blind him. Make sure you have someone else with you because the only way to break a powerful genjutsu, if you are under its spell, is to have someone touch you and bring you back to the real world without taking too much damage. Decide for yourself what to do with this information. I'm sure it will be helpful. In case it doesn't work I have hidden a vial of anti-genjutsu potion made by me under the floorboards of my room so no one else can find it before you. Keep that vial on you at all times, or else it won't work. Perhaps we will see each other again one day.**

**P.S. I did the same thing to you as I did to Jugo while you were unconscious. I knew you would protest if you were awake, but you no longer have the curse mark. You are free.**

**Sakura**

The trees were a blur as Sakura sped on by them. She was hurrying back to Konoha. _The others must be so worried about me. _She thought. _I hope nobody got extremely hurt. _Sakura frowned. She really wanted to bring Sasuke back with her but she knew that was out of the question. So she tried to help him with his revenge a little, even if he didn't want it. Sakura smiled a little. Stupid Sasuke and his stupid Uchiha pride. It always got in the way. She looked down at her side. It too had taken damage, but it was only a dull scar now. They had tied. Nobody had won that fight. Sakura chuckled. Looks like they were evenly matched now. Suddenly she felt chakra coming towards her at high speed. It felt like it came from several different people. Sakura masked her own chakra and hid in a tree. Three people came into view, and stopped right underneath her, panting. "There's no way we are going to find her by just running around like fools. We have to have a plan." One said in a slightly husky voice. As if he didn't use it much. Sakura's eyes widened. These ninja's were no enemy, they were her friends. "Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, is that you?" They gasped at the voice and looked up. "Pinky? That you?" Kankuro asked. Sakura nodded and hopped down from the tree. "I'm glad to see you all again."

Temari glomped her. "We were so worried about you! What happened? Where have you been? Are you hurt?! I'll kill whoever did this to you!" She cried. Gaara sighed. "One thing at a time Temari. She looks like she's turning blue." He secretly wanted to shake her and ask all those questions at the same time too. Temari gasped and let go of Sakura. "Sorry!" Sakura gasped for air. "It's alright Temari." Then she realized something. "Were you all looking for me?" They nodded. "Even though Tsunade told us to go on home, that she would take care of it herself, we couldn't just do nothing. Besides, we're kind of responsible for what happened too. If we had just arrived two minutes earlier..." Kankuro lowered his head. Sakura had a sweet smile on her face. "It's alright. I appreciate what you are doing. I must ask. What happened to the rest of my teammates?" Gaara spoke up. "They are still unconscious. We took them to the hospital so Tsunade could treat them but no good results have came out of it." Sakura saddened. "I see." Gaara crossed his arms. "Now that's said and done, tell us what happened to you." Sakura sweatdropped. _He's always to the point isn't he? _She told them.

She told them about finding out that they were fake akatsuki, that Sasuke was involved, the fight, and everything else that happened. By the time she was finished Gaara's fists were clenched so much his knuckles were white. Kankuro's mouth was hanging open, and Temari was having a fit. "That traitor thought he could just waltz up and make you join him after what he did!? You go girl! You showed him what a true kunoichi can do!" Kankuro finally shut his mouth and said, astonished. " I can't believe you tied with the Uchiha. I can't even put a scratch on him!" He pouted. Gaara was still standing with his arms crossed,and hands fisted. _I suppose it's a good thing she got away. I wouldn't have just made him pay. I would have killed him for what he did. That time and this time. _Sakura could see Gaara's sand act up. She decided to calm him down. Sakura went up to him and cautiously hugged him. Gaara's eyes popped open as he stiffened. Sakura smiled up at him. "Thank you for caring. All of you. Make sure to remind me to help you guys out when you're in trouble. Her captor slightly relaxed as he awkwardly put his arms around her and hugged back. Temari and Kankuro's eyes were wide. This was the first time Gaara had been hugged.

After a few seconds Sakura stepped back. She looked at the siblings shocked faces and giggled. "What? I can't hug a friend?" They came out of their trances. Temari shook her head. "You're something else Sakura. You're something else." Sakura smiled. "No, I'm not "something else". I'm your sensei remember?" Temari laughed as she thought back to element training. "Your right. Hey! When are we going to get to go on our first mission as the elemental five?" Sakura shrugged. "Hopefully soon. Right now I think I better be heading back to Konoha before Tsunade sends out another search team for me. The siblings nodded. "We'll be heading back to Suna then, and take care of Naruto." Gaara said. Temari piped in. "Don't forget to tell that lazy butt Shikamaru hi from me as well!" Sakura nodded. "I won't. Goodbye." They went their separate ways.

Sakura was once again glomped, this time by a bigger group. She had made it to Naruto's hospital room and was bombarded by her family and Tsunade. After all that Satire had slapped her, and Tsunade punched her, telling her not to worry them like that again. Then they started crying, along with her mom and Sakon. Sardon and her father just looked on with relief on their faces. After a few minutes of the crying spree everyone finally calmed down enough for Tsunade to ask Sakura what had happened. Sakura told the same story that she told the sand siblings. Tsunade sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "This can be a problem." Satire got angry. "I thought you told me in the letter that you would be alright! That you could handle this!" "I only said that to appease you. I didn't want to make you worry." Sakura said. Satire harumphed and looked away. Sapphire just hugged Sakura and said "I'm glad you're alright now." Mufasa stared down at her. "So you finally mastered the jutsu I taught you huh? How did it go?" Sapphire glared at her husband. "Mufasa! How dare you ask such a question as that when she could have died!" Sakura faintly smiled and mouthed. "Alright." Sardon and Sakon grinned. Tsunade cleared her throat. "I'm glad you are alright Sakura but I could use your help right now."

Said girl untangled herself from her mother and went over to the bed. Naruto had been unconscious through the whole ordeal. Sakura's eyes dulled but she ushered her family out the door and put her hair up on top of her head. Sending green chakra to her hand she scanned over Naruto's whole body. Sure enough, there was poison in his bloodstream that even Kyuubi couldn't get rid of. She thought back to Jugo. He was certainly skilled enough to eject a poison into him. Taking off her battle gloves, she asked Tsunade if she could get a several basins with healing solutions in them. Tsunade nodded and sent for one of the nurses. Sakura healed the broken bones that Tsunade hadn't gotten to and closed up a few fresh wounds. Three nurses came in with the basins of solution and set them down beside of Sakura. She put her hand over top the solution and drew out a bubble. She slowly transferred the bubble into Naruto and drew out some of the poison. Tsunade and a nurse had to hold Naruto down. It took Sakura an hour to draw out as much poison as she could. Wiping her forehead with her arm she wrote down a few items and asked the nurses to collect these and make an antidote. Tsunade followed her student proudly as she went down the hallway to do the same thing to Sai and Kakashi.

Five hours later Sakura sat in her office chair, exhausted. She had drawn out a lot of the poison from her teammates and exterminated the rest with the antidote she had come up with. It had been a slow process because it was a different type of poison that Kankuro had recieved from Sasori. Thank goodness it wasn't as deadly. Tsunade had told her to go take a nap to restore her chakra until she was called. Sakura had gladly obliged. She rested her head in her arms on top of her desk and fell asleep instantly. About an hour later a knock came on her door. She didn't hear it. The person knocked again, this time louder. Sakura slowly opened her eyes and unstuck her cheek from her arms. "Come in." Shizune walked in the door. "Are you feeling any better now Sakura?" She asked. Sakura nodded. "Not completely restored but I'm much more alert now than I was." Shizune smiled. "That's good. Your teammates are finally awake now. They are in room 7 and would like to see you." Sakura smirked. "Did you put them in room 7 on purpose, Shizune? Or were you just not thinking and had your eyes on Kakashi the whole time?" She blushed. "N..No! Not at all!" Sakura raised an eyebrow and told her she would head right over. Shizune ran out, her face now as red as a tomato.

Sakura poked her head into room 7. Sure enough, there was her teammates sitting on couches. Sakura opened the door wider and they looked over at her. **"Sakura-chan!" **Naruto cried, trying to get up out of his seat. Sakura shook her head. "Don't try to get up Naruto. You are still healing." He pouted and sat back down. Sai smiled a true smile when she looked at him. This made Sakura smile back. Kakashi grinned at her with his lone eye. An orange book in his hands. Sakura sweatdropped. "You just wake up from a poison attack and you're already reading that book?" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Setting that aside, what happened to you Sakura?" Naruto's eyes widened. "Yeah! Did they knock you out too Sakura?!" Sakura closed her eyes and sighed. She didn't really want to tell them what happened. Especially Naruto. He would probably just be sad, but she knew she had to. If she didn't they would hear it from a different source and that wouldn't go over too well. So she sat down and told her story for the third time.

For once Naruto was silent. Kakashi layed his book in his lap as he sighed. Sai just sat looking emotionless, but Sakura knew that on the inside he wanted to murder something. "I don't get it." Naruto said with his head down. Kakashi sighed again. "It seems Sasuke was the one behind all this . He disposed of the rest of us just so he could easily target Sakura and explained that he wanted her for medical purposes only. Then he fought with her to see how far she could go and he passed out afterwards and Sakura came back..." "No, I mean, I understand all that Kakashi sensei. What I don't understand is why Sasuke would go so far as to try to separate us for his own purposes. I've never understood that. What's so good about revenge that he would want to break our bonds, and then go and kidnap one of those people that he tried to break a bond with? He clenched his fist. "I mean, why can't he just accept the fact that we aren't gonna give up on him and let us help him? Why does he have to be so dark and gloomy all the time?"

Sakura, Sai, and Kakashi all looked at him sadly. They didn't have anything to say. "I guess it's just the way Sasuke thinks Naruto. No one can change the way he thinks." Kakashi said. Naruto laughed and smiled at them. "Ah, just forget about all that. It's giving me a headache anyway." He looked at Sakura. "Did you really tie with Sasuke in the fight?" Sakura smiled. He actually sounded excited. _Now this is the Naruto I like. _Sakura laughed and nodded. "Yes you baka, I did." Naruto put his hands behind his head. "I wish I could have seen the look on teme's face when you did that!" "He pouted a lot when I kept counterattacking him. He looked like a baby." They all laughed at the mental picture in their heads of Sasuke with a sour look on his face and a pacifier in his mouth. Then Naruto's stomach growled and he whined for ramen which made them all laugh harder.

Later that night, Naruto finally got his ten or more bowls of ramen that he said he had been "robbed" of. He was made even happier by his team joining him before they went home. The rest of the teams ended up joining themtoo. It had been a while since they all hung out together. Sakura told Shikamaru about Temari saying hi which resulted in Shikamaru blushing and mumbling "troublesome woman". Sai was tormenting Naruto about the fact that he liked "dancing pandas" and had no "essentials". Naruto blushed and growled at him while Ino and Hinata looked on in interest. Tenten and Neji were arguing about which was better, weapons or hand to hand combat and Shino was watching Kiba and Lee try to beat each other in an eating contest. All in all it was a pretty crazy night and after an hour or two they parted ways. Sakura waved to Naruto and went home to get a good nights sleep. Before laying down she looked out the window. _Have you started on your journey yet Sasuke? Will I ever see you again? I hope so. Good Luck...Sasuke-kun._

Several miles away, back at the cabin, Sasuke was preparing for a long trip. He gathered his things and sheathed his sword. Placing it in his "belt" he turned to look at the others. They were ready and waiting on him. Sasuke warned them about the long trip and told them to go on ahead. They were hesitant but he said he would catch up in a few minutes, that he needed to do something. Waiting until the others were out of sight he bent down and felt around for any loose floorboards. He felt one and lifted it up. There, underneath a small cloth, was a small vial of purple liquid. He picked it up and placed it in a safe place in his shirt, along with the letter that Sakura had written. He smiled a little. She definetly hadn't left him empty handed. They were small reminders of her in case something were to go wrong. He frowned. Hopefully he would come out of this alive and maybe reunite with her and the knucklehead. Smirking he hopped on the windowsill. _Very soon we will meet again. Somehow. I just know it. _Then he ran off towards his fate.


	18. Chapter 18

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Here's the next chapter.**

**Sorry for the late update! My computer has gone kapooey for a long time.**

Chapter Eighteen

_She was running. Running as fast as her legs would allow her to run. The land was smoking as broken and bloody bodies lay all around her. She didn't know where she was or why she was here. All she knew was that she was running towards something, or someone. A lonely figure finally came into her sight and she slowed down. Her hand was shaking as she slowly rolled over the body. She gasped as she looked into the souless,dead eyes of Sasuke Uchiha. She looked around at the other dead bodies around her and started to feel salty water in her eyes. All of her friends and family were dead. Not a single soul was alive except for her. She finally broke down and cried as she lay her head on Sasuke's bloody chest. She was useless. She couldn't save even one of them. Suddenly a sound broke through the silence. It was a laugh. An evil, lunatic laugh. She slowly looked through tearstained eyes towards the sound. There stood a man about ten feet away from her. A man with spinning red tomoe eyes. He stared at her with a feral grin for a second before he rushed towards her. In that split moment of time she could see someone else hidden in trees far away from her. It was a woman she thought dead. Her blue hair waved in the wind while her cold, heartless green eyes never left hers for an instant. She let out a silent scream as she realized what was happening and the man's blade was inches from her heart..._

Sakura shot up in bed, gasping and sweat rolling down her face. She looked at her surroundings. _It was just a dream._ She thought thankfully,seeing her familiar bedroom. Sakura rubbed some of the sweat off with her forearm and looked at the clock. It was only three in the morning. She groaned and got out of bed to fix herself a cup of hot coffee. As the coffee was boiling Sakura couldn't help but think. _What was that dream all about anyway? Is it telling me that something bad is going to happen? I hope not. _Deciding she wasn't going to get any more sleep that night she downed her coffee in one gulp, wincing at the bitter taste, and got dressed. It was warm outside so she wore a simple black t-shirt, red shorts with the white Haruno circle on the sides of them, and her long black boots. She grabbed her weapons pouch and locked her door. Thinking that everyone else must still be asleep she quietly headed towards the training grounds.

Upon arriving, she found that she was not alone. Kakashi Hatake was leaning up against a tree, Icha Icha Paradise in hand. "Morning Sakura, up mighty early this morning aren't you?" He said matter of factly, without looking at her. Sakura lifted an eyebrow and walked over towards him. "Not as early as you apparently Kakashi sensei. Why are you up this early anyway? You are usually late." Kakashi sweatdropped _Is this what people think of me nowadays?_ He finally lifted his eye towards her. "I guess I just had an urge to be early for once, and it looks like it paid off." Sakura cocked her head, a curious look in her eyes. Kakashi's eye closed in a smile. "I got to see one of my former students. Whereas had I been late, I wouldn't have seen you." "It just depends on how late you would have been. I don't even know why I came here." Her perverted sensei looked back down at his book. "You couldn't get any sleep last night could you?" Sakura shook her head. Kakashi nodded once. "Makes sense seeing how it's getting close to that time again." Sakura stared at Kakashi, trying not to let her inner turmoil show.

In three days time, it would be the exact date that Sasuke had left her on that bench all those years ago. It was depressing really. To have seen him not too long ago and not be able to bring him back home. Sakura sighed. She hoped she had helped him a little at least. She stood there thinking a little more until Kakashi broke the silence. "There is no use standing here pondering over the past. There are better things we could be doing this early in the morning, while no one is around." Sakura looked up at him suspiciously. "What would that be exactly Kakashi sensei?" Kakashi winced and shut his book. "First of all, don't call me sensei anymore when I'm not. It just makes me feel old. Secondly, I thought we could do a little one on one training since I haven't really had a chance to do it with you yet." He smiled while Sakura gaped at him. "Are you going to teach me a new jutsu too Kakashi!" He chuckled. "Yes. One that I feel you are suited for." Sakura was excited. "Then tell me what it is!"

Kakashi told her that he hadn't taught her anything beforehand because he knew that Naruto and Sasuke would have interfered saying that she was too "fragile". Sakura sighed and said she understood. He said that the concept of the jutsu would be almost similar to Gaara's. Sakura looked confused so Kakashi elaborated. "I will teach you how to transport all of your chakra to one point and then separate the elements so that they come out in five different colors and, possibly, forms." Sakura nodded, starting to understand what Kakashi was getting at, a little bubble of excitement starting to well up inside of her. Seeing that he had his former student's full attention he continued. "By releasing your chakra that way it will form a powerful barrier to you and a menacing weapon to your enemies. Your chakra will wrap around your enemies, immobilizing them, and eventually, crushing them. Think of it as another, stronger form of your "rainbow" ball." Sakura could just picture it, only one thing was unclear. "You said my chakra would take on "forms". What kind of forms do you mean?" Kakashi smiled. "What sound does your chakra make when you release your rainbow ball?" "A dragon..." Sakura said hesitantly. Kakashi nodded once. "Then most likely your chakra will take the form of a dragon. Or should I say, five dragons."

"Then those five dragons would take on the form of each of the elements and practically wrap themselves around the victims and cause them to catch on fire or something right?" Sakura asked, much more excited now. Kakashi stared at her for a few moments. _She's changed. _He thought. _I can remember the old days when she would scream at the sight of blood, or even someone dead. _"Something like that." He said out loud. "How long is it going to take?" Sakura asked, now serious again. Her gravity-defying haired sensei thought for a moment. "There's no way to tell that. It just depends on how fast you learn I suppose." Sakura grinned. "Good thing I'm a fast learner then ne?" Kakashi blinked. "Why? Is something bothering you?" Memories of that dream came back to her. She didn't want to admit it but she had a foreboding feeling something bad was going to happen and she wanted to be as prepared as she could be for whatever occured, if it ever did. She looked back at Kakashi with a fake grin on her face. "No, nothing's wrong, why would you think that?" Kakashi gave her a hard stare, then sighed. "I'll let you have your privacy for now, but you can always tell me what's wrong." Sakura smiled. "I know that. Then she got that hard glint in her eyes. "Are we just going to stand around here all day talking, or are we going to start with my training?"

It took three days for Sakura to learn the jutsu. Kakashi was impressed. "It took Sasuke a whole month to learn the chidori even with his sharingan, and you can learn an even more advanced jutsu in just three days!" He got a sad look on his face. "I underestimated you when you were younger. I'm sorry." Sakura looked at her sensei in shock for a moment, then her expression softened. "Don't worry about it. I admit I was really immature back then anyway." Kakashi nodded. "Well, I'm off now." He said opening his book. Sakura nodded. "Thank you for teaching me everything you knew." Kakashi smiled with his lone eye and poofed away. Sakura gathered her weapons and headed home. She was used to her sensei's abrupt disappearances. He had nothing else to teach her anyway. Her apartment came into sight and she walked even faster. It was time for a nice long shower.

_She was running in a field of corpses again. Yet, this time she knew where she was and what was going to happen. A dead Sasuke below her and a glimpse of blue and heartless green behind the red eyed man's close profile. A blade inches from her heart...__**BANG BANG BANG. **_Sakura woke with a start once again at the sound of pounding on her door. She groaned and got out of bed, a little thankful that her dream couldn't go any further.


End file.
